As an autonomous and decentralized system, the Network is being designed to facilitate the distribution of Royalties directly to participants without the need for third-party intervention, nor a centralized authority.
These royalty payments will be made by the Network itself, rewarding participants such as application developers, service providers, and data owners, based on usefulness and utility of contributions to individuals and the health of the Network overall.
While the mechanisms for these automated distributions are still in development, they are a key milestone in the Network’s roadmap.
Until such time as the Network Distribution of Royalties is implemented, the Autonomi Foundation will collect and oversee the distribution of Network Royalties in accordance with the needs of the Network, and its ability to meet its objectives, through the following methods:
Grant Making: Royalties may be paid in the form of grants to fund new areas of research, prospective development of software, services, or other activities.
Rewards: Participants can be rewarded retrospectively in line with the utility and value of their contributions, endeavours, or services to the users of the Network and the project’s objectives in a given period.
Ad Hoc Payments: The Foundation may also make ad hoc payments to fulfil its objectives and remit, its governance and regulatory obligations, and in order to cover the costs of administering and distributing Network Royalties. Grants, rewards, and ad hoc payments will be made from the Network Royalties Pool, with any unspent or unclaimed funds in a given period returned to the pool for further distribution.
A portion of the Genesis Supply will also allocated to a Network Royalties Pool to help sustain the Network and the ecosystem in its early days, and reward and incentivise its contributors. This will be administered by the Foundation.