At the heart of the Autonomi's philosophy is the conviction that computers, and the networks that connect them, exist to serve human needs. The value of software should be based on its usefulness to people, not on its ability to harvest personal data.
The Internet revolutionised software distribution and gifted us global hyper-connectivity, but the data mining ad-based business models that underpin today's web have warped our interactions with technology and distorted our relationships with one another. Tracking, surveillance, and behaviour manipulation, all in the name of ROI. A compromised and very different vision from the one that birthed the web.
It's time for a fresh blueprint for funding apps, building networks, and sustainably financing open software development. A blueprint that emphasises real-world utility, respects privacy and advocates for interoperability, autonomy, and open standards. One where apps, services, and protocols are collectively funded and rewarded by the network itself. An approach which asserts that invaluable software ought to be backed and consistently funded by the Network's inherent resources, rather than relying on fleeting benevolence, predatory capital or a privacy bait-and-switch.
Network Royalties are a mechanism through which software development, services, and data which provide value to people who use the Network, benefit wider society, and meet the objectives of the project, can be meaningfully rewarded and sustainably funded.
Autonomi's native tokens are the oil of the Network's economy. They recirculate through the Network and allow its internal market for resources to function.
Each time a Data Payment is made as files are uploaded or edited, 85% of that fee goes to nodes supplying the storage, but the remaining 15% is remitted as Network Royalties.
These royalties are redistributed to people building apps and services in the Autonomi ecosystem, and those maintaining the core protocol and the libraries supporting it.
Where Resource Supply Rewards are paid to those supplying computer resources to the economy, Network Royalties reward those providing utility and benefit to users through knowledge, innovation, and creative endeavours, and for them to be economically empowered by the Network itself.
Network Royalties are paid in support of the following areas such as:
Supporting the research, design, development, and maintenance of the Network and protocols, enabling its ongoing operation, enhancement and security.
Development of software applications, platforms, sites, and services that run on, and/or provide utility to users of the Network.
Creators, publishers, and curators of data that is made publicly and freely available for the common good can become eligible for Network Royalties.
Royalties will also support the sustainable and transparent governance of the Network and provide the required administration. They will also help foster the growth, health and understanding of the Network and its ecosystem, through education, and promotion.
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.