An Architecture for a Commons

To create a trustworthy system, we think that it would be helpful to have a "commons" from which we could all draw resources and within which we could work together in pursuit of the overarching goal. This commons must itself be trustworthy and as distributed as the system to which it hopes to give rise.

We have chosen to use the basic concepts of XRI/XDI as a model for the commons.  There are two distinct levels of participation:

• Members, either individual or institutional.

• Related corporations, within a linked corporate network.

Any member or related corporation can enter into an agreement with any other member or related corporation.  In XRI/XDI terminology, we refer to these agreements as "link contracts."  In practice, we expect the formal parts of the commons to embody legally enforceable contracts among the specific participants.

In general, related corporations are formed by members as a vessel for holding common resources and agreements, or as a vehicle to help members coordinate work together.

The initial related corporation needs to be a membership corporation to which every participant is a member .  It holds the basic membership agreement, which is a mutual link contract among all members, and a set of "fundamental provisions" which must be inherited by every related corporation -- by incorporating them into its governing instruments -- that wishes to become part of the commons.

From an architectural perspective, the basic link contract among members must outline a set of rights and responsibilities, including to:

• Work with whom and how they want, making decisions for themselves.

• Make decisions among those it directly affects, and without anyone dominating.

• Work to ensure the coherence of the whole system, and that the parts stay interoperable.

The fundamental provisions for related corporations include a comparable set of principles, and must include:

• Binding together the fiduciary duties of all trustees in the commons.

  Shift of         authority

• The right to create additional policies for itself, as long as they are consistent with those it inherited from related corporations.

• Creating an ownership structure consistent with the notion of a "commons."

• Shifting decision-making authority to the most local part of the commons that includes the relevant and affected parties.

• Establishing, and regularly reviewing, a system of governance that is consistent with the principles, etc., and ensuring that all policies are consistent with the same.

Members become members when they accept the mutual contract embodied in the membership agreement, and the other members accept them into membership.

Related corporations become related when each formally recognizes that the other has the fundamental provisions adequately in embodied in their governing instruments and become mutually responsible for keeping it that way.

The entire commons builds itself and evolves from the recursive application of these two basic link contracts.

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