The PaySwarm web platform is an open standard that enables web browsers and web
devices to perform micropayments and copyright-aware, peer-to-peer digital
media distribution.
The PaySwarm web platform is an open standard that enables web browsers and web
devices to perform micropayments and copyright-aware, peer-to-peer digital
media distribution.
PaySwarm enables people that create digital content to distribute it through the Web and receive payment directly from their fans and customers. It is also designed to help fans and customers distribute digital content on behalf of the content creators in a way that is both legal and financially beneficial to the creators, fans and customers. The technology is designed to be integrated directly into web devices, finally making legal digital content distribution a first-class citizen on the web.
An open web platform is a combination of technology that is patent-free, royalty-free, published in a free specification, using well-defined protocols and other open technologies. The combination of open technology to accomplish a particular set of related tasks on the web defines an "open web platform".
The term micropayment is used loosely, as we don't want to bother the customer to reach for their wallet every time they need to spend a couple of cents, or even a couple of dollars. Micropayment in this case, specifically refers to the ability to divvy royalties and payments in increments of up to 1/10,000th of a cent to various royalty and payment accounts as listed in the digital contracts.
Anyone. The entire PaySwarm standard is implementable on a patent and royalty-free basis, just like HTTP, HTML 4.01 and Javascript. This means that anybody may implement any part of the system without worrying about technology licensing fees or patent suits from any of the participating W3C member companies.
You can affect the future of PaySwarm by collaborating with the open community that is involved with designing and implementing this technology. There are no qualifications necessary to join the group - if you're interested in digital content distribution, peer-to-peer development, media, digital culture or the Web, join us. There are a few ways that you can keep up with what is going on as well as take part in designing the future of digital content distribution on the web:
Listed below are the documents and resources that describe the PaySwarm work in more detail.
The PaySwarm Roadmap outlines the path from where we are today, to W3C standardization and beyond.
The PaySwarm FAQ covers a list of frequently asked questions about the PaySwarm standardization work.
The PaySwarm Use Cases are the core scenarios that are the basis for the PaySwarm Web API and Payment and Transaction processing environment.
The PaySwarm Web API Specification defines the details of interfacing with PaySwarm networks.
The Web API Discovery Specification defines a mechanism and vocabulary for software agents that may be used to automatically discover Web APIs using standard markup technologies - HTML and RDFa.