a peer-to-peer encyclopedia network

APeer-to-PeerEncyclopediaNetworkSamKazemian,KedarIyer,TravisMoore,TheodorForselius,LarrySanger

sam@everipedia.comkedar@everipedia.comtravis@everipedia.com

theodor@everipedia.comlarry@everipedia.com

DISCLAIMER:ThisEveripediaNetworkTechnicalWhitePaperversion1.21

(June212018)isaworkinprogressandforinformationalpurposesonly.It

ismeanttoserveasaproposalofideasforfree,open-sourcesoftware.

AbstractEmergingblockchaintechnologyhasmadeitpossibletocreatean

incentivizedpeer-to-peernetworkforsubmitting,curating,andgoverning

adatabaseofencyclopediaarticles.Participantsinthenetworkearn

tokensforcuratingandsubmittingcontenttothedatabase,thenusethese

tokenstovoteonprotocolupgradesandfurthersubmissionsor

modificationstothedatabaseofarticles.Websites,businesses,or

individualscanbuildtheirownuserinterfacetointeractwiththenetwork

orasubsetofthenetwork.Thisallowswebsitesandapplicationstoaccess

andcollaborateonasynchronizeddatabaseofhumanknowledge,a

“greaterwiki,”thatisconstantlyupdatedbyallparticipantsand

applicationsonthenetwork.

Weproposeathreemodulesystemconsistingofatokenmodule,a

governancemodule,andanarticlesubmissionmodule.Thesecomponents

interacttocreateasustainable,decentralized,immutable,incentivized

networkofeditorsthatcreatequality,well-citedencyclopediaarticles.The

usefulnessofhavingcredibleinformationincludedinthishighlyordered,

historicallyrecorded,andcommunitymaintaineddistributeddatabase

becomesvaluable.Thisusefulnessandastakeintheoverallnetwork

providesthetokenitsutilityandvalue.

Introduction:TheEveripediaNetworkTheEveripediaNetwork(EPN)isadecentralizedencyclopediadatabase

fullygovernedbytokenholders.Tokenholderscanapproveedits,create

network-widerulesthatgoverntheencyclopedia,aswellasbuyandsell

servicesfortokensonthenetwork.Thisalsomeansthattokensplaya

centralroleintheconsensusprotocoloffinalizingdataentryintothe

network.

TheEveripediaNetworkturnsthenon-profitknowledgeindustryintoa

knowledgeeconomywhereeconomicincentivescanguidethecreationof

knowledgecontent.WiththeEPNonecanconnectdirectlytotheworld’s

largestwikidatabasefromanysite.Weimagineafutureinwhicheven

non-programmerscancreatesitesthatutilizetheEveripediaNetwork

throughsomethingassimpleasaWordpresstemplate.

Networkeffectshavehadaheavycentralizationeffectontheknowledge

industrypreventingseriouscompetitionandmarketforcesfromspringing

up.Wikipediaisoneofthelargestwebsitesintheworldboastingover19

billionpageviewsamonthacrossalllanguages.[1][2]However,Wikipedia

unintentionallytrapstheknowledgecapitalitgenerateswithinitsown

platformwhenitscontentcouldbeusedtocreateathrivingknowledge

economy.

Additionally,oneclearshortcomingWikipediahasdemonstratedisits

inabilitytocaptureanyofthemonetaryandintrinsicvalueofcontentthat

itsplatformandcommunityhascreated,asevidencedbybi-annual

donationbannercampaigns.[3][4]Inthisregard,thereisroomto

dramaticallyupendthestatusquobycreatinganopen,distributed

knowledgebasewithtechnologythatproperlytracksthevaluecreationof

thecommunityandreturnsthisvaluebacktothecreators,curators,and

developersoftheplatform.Additionally,adistributedplatformwhich

drawsconsensus,contributions,incentives,andvaluefromtheparticipants

ofthenetworkalsohasauniqueopportunityfortheparticipantstotake

partintheactualhosting,storage,anddistributionofthecontentonsuch

anetwork.

Achievingsuchagoalwouldcreateapeertopeerdistributedcontent

systemthatisproperlyincentivizedandcoordinated.Suchasystemwould

beimmunetosinglepointsoffailurewhichmakesitnearlyimpossibleto

censororblockaccessbyvariousbadactors.

<sub><sup>ThethreemodulesoftheEPNandtheirinteractions.The

tokenmoduleisresponsibleforholdingtokenbalances,mintingschedule,

andsending/receiving/feefunctions.Itcanchangethestateofthearticle

module.Thearticlemoduleisresponsibleforeditproposalsandchanging

thestateofthedatabaseofarticleswhicharethensenttoIPFSnodes.The

governancemoduleisresponsibleforproposalsonchangingnetwork-wide

rules.Itcanchangethestateofanymodule(includingitself)bydeploying

newcodethatisvotedthroughbytokenholders.</sub></sup>

On-chainKnowledge&FactsCurrentsmartcontractsarefairlysimplisticanddonothavethecapability

toreplicatemorenuancedfinancialarrangementsintherealworld.

Additionally,the“oracleproblem”isstillunresolved.Thereisnostandard,

trustless,andsybilresistantmethodforagreeingonreal-worldknowledge

sothatfinancialtransactionscanreferencethem.Oneofthedirectusesof

theEveripediaNetworkshouldbetocreatetheworld’sfirstrepositoryof

on-chainknowledgesothatfinancialtransactionsanddecentralized

applicationscanreferencethemwithouthavingtore-inventtheirown

oraclesystems.Inthissense,theIQtoken’sintrinsicvalueisthestakeit

providesinthelargestdistributedrepositoryoffactsusedbyagrowing

industry.

GovernanceModuleThegovernancemoduleisanobjectwhichhasscopetomakechangesto

everymodule,includingitself.Governanceactionscanmodifythesoftware

foranyofthethreemodules,butnotthedatabasescontainingtoken

balancesandarticles.

Thegovernancemoduleallowsforsubmittingchangestothecommunityof

tokenholdersforapproval.Ifapproved,thegovernancemodulethen

deploysthosechangestothecorrespondingmodule(s).Thisallowsforthe

communitytocometosocialconsensusontherulesthatgovernthe

networkasawhole.Discussionaboutthisconsensuscantakeplaceoff-

chainonsocialmediaandothercommunicationhubs,butdeploymentof

newcodeneedstobedoneon-chaininatrustlessmanner.

TheEPNwillbeasystemofsmartcontractsontheEOSplatform,sousers

willnotberunningfullnodesoftheEveripediaNetwork.Thismeansusers

cannotvoteonsoftwareupdatesbyupdatingtheirclientsoftwareasthey

doinBitcoinorEthereum.Instead,atrustlesson-chainconsensusprocess

mustbedesignedfordeploymentofnewupdates.

Withoutaninternalconsensusprocess,theonlyviablealternativefor

updatingthemodulesoftwarewouldbeforatrustedparty(suchascore

developersorafoundation)toprocessoff-chainconsensusanddeploynew

updateswiththeirelevatedpermissions.Thisisundesirablegiventhe

spiritoftheindustryandthecleartrustlessalternativethatispossible.

Researchanddevelopment,solutionstoscaling,andimprovementstothe

codebasearejustascritical(ifnotmorecritical)asanyserviceandfeature

builtontopofthenetwork.Forthisreason,wehavelaidthefoundationfor

proposingeditsandadditionstothesourcecodeofthenetworkthrough

thegovernancemodule.Thismechanismwillbeusedformeta-governance

ofthenetworkprotocolitselfinafullytrustless,on-chainprocess.

FundingtheNetworkandSelf-SustainabilityTheEveripediaNetworkisaseriesofmodules(smartcontracts)which

runsontheEOSVirtualMachine(EVM).Thevirtualmachine’sstorage,

randomaccessmemory,andbandwidth/computeresourcesareallocatedto

accountsproportionaltotheirEOStokenbalances.TheEveripedia

NetworkwillrequireEVMresourcestorunandfunction.Asthenetwork

increasesinsize,itwouldrequireahigherpercentageoftheEOS

network’scomputepowerandasaresultneedmoreEOStokens.There

aremanywaysfortheEPNtofunditselfrangingfromoldergeneration

methodssuchassimpledonations(suchasWikipedia.org),UXlayer

revenueaswellasnewgenerationmethodsbasedontokeninflationand

auctioning.Onesuchfundingmethodwouldbeagovernanceactionwhich

wouldproposemintingnewIQtokenstobeauctionedforEOStokens.If

theactionisapprovedbyvoters,thenewlyacquiredEOStokenswould

thenbeusedtofundtheEPN’snewbandwidth,storage,andcompute

needs.ThismethodissimilartotheEOSnetwork’sowninflationbased

fundingmodelwhereblockproducersarepaidEOStokensfortheir

services.

TokenModuleThetokenmoduleisresponsibleformakingchangestothetokenbalances

ofaddressesbytransferringtokens,applyingtransactionfees,minting

tokens,andlockingtokensforthearticleconsensusprocess.The

fundamentalunitofaccountintheEveripediaNetworkistheIQtoken

whichistrackedwithinthetokenmodule.

InitialSupply&MintingScheduleTokenswillbemintedevery30minutesthroughtheeditprocessandedit

curationprocess.Therewillbeafixedamountoftokensmintedeachday.

Theamountwillbereseteverydayat00:00UTC.

ProposededitspasstieredthresholdsandreceiveIQrewardsbasedon

votesoftokenholders.Thefirsttiergetstheircollateralback,butno

additionalreward(foranexplanationofcollateral,seethearticlemodule).

ThresholdspastthefirsttierearnfromthedailyIQrewardpool.Theexact

thresholdsanddistributionsforthetierswillbedeterminedbythe

communityasoneofthefirstgovernanceactions.

Attheendofthe30minuteperiod,editorswillreceiveIQrewardsin

proportiontothevalueoftheircontributions.Ansingleeditor’s

contributionisvaluedbasedonthenumberandtiersofeditsapproved

(Listing1).TheIQrewardavailableperdayisdeterminedbythedaily

mintingformula(Listing2).

Listing1:IQrewardformulaforasingleeditor

R=Editor’sIQreward

E=Editor’scontributionvalue

T=Totalcontributionvalueforthe30-min-periodacrossalledits

Q=IQrewardperiodmintrateconstant

R=E*T

Q

TheavailableIQrewardfortheperiod,Q,isdeterminedbyListing2:

Listing2:RewardperiodIQmintingformula

S0=TokenSupplyatGenesis

F=Dailyperiodmintrate

A=Annualmintrate

F=(1+A)1/1051200-1

Q=F*S0

Theannualmintrate,A,willbe5%tomatchtheEOSinflationrate,butthe

numbercanbechangedbyagovernanceaction.Additionally,theminted

tokenscanbepartiallyre-allocatedbyagovernanceactionforadeveloper

fund,bounties,oranyotheruse.

TransactionFeesTheinitialnetworktransferfeewillbethelesserof0.1%or100IQtokens.

Thefeewillbesenttoanulladdressandburntinaverifiablemanner.

Thesenumberscanbechangedbythegovernancemodule.Thesefeesonly

existfortransfersthatarenotstakingorgovernancebasedactions.

Thetransferfeesaredesignedtocounteracttheinflationaryeffectsofthe

editrewards.Sincethetransactionrateforcryptocurrenciestendstobe

volatile,usingthetransferfeesdirectlyforeditrewardswouldleadtotoo

muchdailyuncertainty.

Thecommunityshouldsetthetransferfeeataratewherethemoving

averageofthedailyburnrateapproximatelymatchesthestableinflation

ratefromeditrewards.Theusabletokensupplywillbevirtuallyhard-

cappedthoughday-to-dayfluctuationswillexist.

Alargepercentageoftokentransfersinexistingblockchainnetworkstake

placeforthepurposeofspeculation.Undermostcurrentsystems,the

economicvalueofthisspeculationiscapturedbythespeculators,notthe

network.

Thetransferfeemodelweproposewillallowthenetworktobenefitfrom

marketspeculation.Sinceonlynon-governance,non-stakingtransfers

incurafee,thespeculatorsare,inaway,fundingthedevelopmentofthe

EveripediaNetwork.Thetransferfeecanbeburnedtocreatea

deflationarysupply,usedtofundnetworkdevelopment,orusedtofurther

economicactivityontheplatform.Eitherway,aportionofthespeculative

activity’svaluewillbecapturedandallocatedbythenetwork.

ArticleModuleThearticlemoduleisusedtoproposeeditstobeincludedinthedatabase.

ProposededitsaretupleobjectswhichcontainanIPFShashpointingto

theimmediateparentversionandanIPFShashpointingtothenew

version.Anexampleofaneditobjectcouldbe:

[QmXvHQCbvxp3vQm96VmZDBaTX8Aae6vVcoTvVB6QQsMXnM,

QmeAv3LJo4Kre6dR7GQBqjJFztY9YWZD131W5tYGStUcbM]

StakingIQTokensStakingIQtokensisrequiredtoproposeedits,voteonedits,and

propose/voteonnetworkgovernanceactions.IQisstakedbylockingup

tokensina21-dayvestingperiod.Thisissimilartootherblockchainssuch

asSteemwhichrequiresusersto“powerup”(essentiallylockandvest)

theirtokensinordertovote/stakethemoncontentpublishedonthe

platform.[9]TheprocessofstakingIQisalsocalledpoweringup(asa

tokenofappreciationtoSteem’spioneeringdesign).IQthatislockedup

for21daysgivestheholder“brainpower”(BP)ata1:1ratio.Brainpower

isnotafungibleortransferabletokenandonlyspentduringusageofthe

EPNbythestakingaccount.Onceanaccount’sBPisentirelyspent,they

mustwaitfortheIQstakingperiodof21daystoendbeforere-staking

theirtokensforBPtousetheEPN.Otherwise,theycanacquiremoreIQ

tokensandstakethenewlyacquiredIQforBP.

Example:Auserhas150IQtokens.Theycancallthestakingfunctionto

lockuptheir150IQtokensfor21daysandgettheiraccountallocated150

BrainPowertouseforproposingedits,governanceactions,andvoting.

ThesecondfeatureofthearticlemoduleisusiingBPfortokenholder

votingofinclusionorexclusionofproposededitsinqueue.Thevalidation

ofarticlesgoesthroughavalidationalgorithm(below)withparameters

thatcanbechangedthroughagovernancevote.

Editproposalsareapprovedintierswhichisanoutputofthevalidator

functioninsidethearticlemodule.Thetiersareasfollows:

Tier1:Proposalnotapproved

Tier2:Proposalapproved,notokenrewardgiven,collateralreturned

Tier3:Proposalapproved,tokenrewardsgivenproportionaltotoken

holdervotes,collateralreturned

IfeditproposalshitTier2orTier3thenthearticlemodulewillstorethe

correspondingeditproposalobjectintothemoduledatabase.

ValidationAlgorithm(thecontentconsensusmethod)Oneofthemostimportantprocessesinthenetworkisthevalidationof

statechangestothedatabase-thatis,approvalofchangestoarticlesor

creationofnewones.Thevalidationalgorithmisafunctionwhichtakesin

asargumentstheproposededitobjectofthearticleandtheBPvotesfor

thatproposal.Itreturnsthetieroftheeditproposalandtokenrewards

andslashingconditions(ifapplicable).

Thevalidationperiodforeacheditlastsamaximumof72hoursorwhena

minimumstakingthresholdisreached.Front-endsarefreetousetheir

owncriteriatodisplaypendingeditssinceevenpendingeditobjectsare

locatedinsidethedatabase.Forexample,somefront-endscouldchooseto

displayallpendingeditswithtime-sensitivecontent.

Attheendofthevalidationperiod,aneditisclassifiedintoatierusingthe

followingcriteria.Thesecriteriacanbemodifiedbythegovernance

module.OnevoteisequivalenttooneBP.

Tier1-Lessthan50%yesvotes

Tier2-Greaterthan50%ofyesvotesbutfailstoqualifyforTier3.

Tier3-Greaterthan75%ofyesvotes

EveryvotereceivedbyaTier3editcountstowardsaneditor’sdaily

contributionvalue.IQrewardsforthedayaredispersedbasedonthe

formulasinListings1and2intheTokenModule.

CurationRewardsCMR=Curationmintrate;numberofIQtokensmintedforcuration

rewardsperperiodP(initialnetworkP=30minutes)

SBP=Summatonofoneuser’sBrainPowerwhichvotedonthemajority

sideduringperiodP

OBP=Summationofalluser’sBrainPowerwhichvotedonthemajority

sideduringperiodP

CMR*(SBP/OBP)=user’scurationrewardperperiodP

EditRewards(ContentRewards)EMR=Editmintrate;numberofIQtokensmintedforeditorrewardsper

periodP(initialnetworkP=30minutes)

TBP=Summatonofoneeditor’sBrainPowervotessurpassingTier2

thresholdduringperiodP

OTBP=Summationofalleditor’sBrainPowervotessurpassingTier2

thresholdduringperiodP

EMR*(TBP/OTBP)=user’scurationrewardperperiodP

SlashingConditionsEditingarticlescanbeafairlycontentiousactivity.However,theremustbe

sybil-resistanteconomicincentivestohavetokenholdersarriveatthe

common,salientansweroftheeditproposal.Thatis,theremustbe

incentivesforeachindividualagenttoarriveatwhattheybelievetobethe

commonresponse-thecorrectone.Likewise,thereshouldbe

disincentivesproportionaltoarrivingattheminorityresponse-the

incorrectone.Unlikeproofofstakebasedconsensusmethodswhich

slash/burnthestaker’stokensforvotingonincorrectblocks,theEPN

slashingconditiondoesnotpermanentlyburntokensforvotingincorrectly

(votingontheminorityside).

Slashingincreasesthestakinglock-upperiodinverselyproportionaltothe

minorityvotingratio.Ifauser’saccountisslashed,theirlock-upperiodfor

withdrawingtheirIQtokensincreasesbysomeamount.Thissolvestwo

issues:1.RepeatedlyvotingontheminoritysideeffectivelyburnsIQ

tokenssincethelock-upperiodconsistentlyincreasessothatrepeated

attacksonthenetworkdefactoremovetheattacker’sIQtokensfrom

circulation(sincetheywillnotbeabletowithdrawandre-staketheir

tokensforaverylongduration).2.Participationingenuinecontentious

discussions(“editwars”)isnotdiscouragedsincelosingsidesdonotget

theirtokensburnedpermanently.Additionally,themorecontentiousan

editis,thelesspenaltythereisforvotingontheminorityside(sincethe

minorityisalmostaslargeasthemajority).

VotersinthemajorityaregivenaproportionalamountoftheIQ

inflationarytokenrewardallottedforcontent.Votersthatvoteinthe

minorityhavetheirtokenlock-upperiodincreasedforanextendedamount

oftime,inversely-proportionaltotheminoritystake.Theslashingratiocan

bemodeledwiththefollowing:

(TotalMajorityBPVotes-TotalMinorityBPVotes)/(TotalBPVotes)=

SlashingRatio

Ex:Userhas200BrainPowerandvotes“No”usingalltheirBPforanedit

proposal.Totalvotesequal2000BrainPowerwith1500BPvotes“Yes”and

500totalBPvotes“No.”Becausetheuservotedontheminorityside,the

slashingratioiscalculatedas:((1500)-(500))/(2000)=(.5)then

multipliedby(21days)togettheincreasedlock-uptime.

The200IQthatgeneratedthe200BPislockedupforanadditional10.5

days.Note:Themorecontentiousthevoting,thelessthepenaltyisfor

votingintheminority.

Identity,Reputation,andAccountHistoriesItispossibletoleverageupcomingon-chainidentificationandreputation

systemstoincorporateintothevalidationalgorithmandeditapproval

processsuchthatpreviousedithistoriesandidentitiesofeditorscanbe

measuredintheconsensusprocess.Suchidentitysystemscouldinclude

uPortornativeEOS.IOuserID/reputationsystems.Sinceeditproposals

(andtheirapproval/disapproval)arealreadystoredon-chain,thisuser

historycanbeincorporatedintonewupdatestothevalidationalgorithm

coupledwiththeidentification/credentialsoftheuser.

DelegatingVotesUserswhodonotwishtopersonallyvoteusingtheirBPcandelegatetheir

BPtoanotherentityor“pool”forconsensusvoting.Poolswillbeoperated

bythecommunityandvoteonbehalfoftheirusersaccordingto

transparentprinciplespublishedinaconstitution,wiki,orsimilar

document.ThiscouldformasecondarymarketforthepriceofBPifthere

issufficientdemandsimilartohowsecondarymarketsarelikelytoform

overEOS.IObandwidth,RAM,andstorage.

Buildingadelegatelayerontopofthebasevotingprotocolwouldallowa

markettoformoverarticlenarrativesas“thoughtleaders”pledgecuration

idealstheywouldfollowshouldtheybedelegatedvotes.Forexample,an

anti-censorshipstakingpoolcouldstatethattheywillvoteinfavorofany

editthatadequatelycitesitssourcesregardlessofthespecificsofthe

content.Userswhobelieveinthisvisionfortheencyclopedianetwork

coulddelegatetheirvotestothestakingpool.

StakingbyArticleorTopic

ItispossibletoexploreperarticleorpertopicstakingsuchthatstakingIQ

tokenstoaspecifiedsubsectionofthenetwork’scontentgivesthestaker

moreBPauthorityoversucharticle/topicbutonlyallowsthemtopartake

invotingforthatspecifiedarticle/topic.Thevalidationalgorithmwhich

computesBPvoteswouldneedtocheckforthetypeofstake(generalvs.

perarticle/topic)andweightthevoteaccordingly.Thisfeaturewouldallow

usersto“own”acertainjurisdictionalauthorityovercertaintopics

proportionaltotheirstakeinthatareaofthenetwork’scontent.

EOS.IOImplementationEOS.IOsoftwareisaTuring-completedistributedcomputingplatformand

smartcontractsysteminwhichblockproducersallocatebandwidth&

storageforlargescaledecentralizedapplicationsproportionaltothe

user/developerEOStokenbalance.[7]

<sub><sup>EOS.IOschematic:Blockproducersofthenetworkprovide

bandwidth,IPFSstorage,queryservices,servers,andgatewayinterfaces.

TheyareincentivizedtodothisthroughnewlymintedEOStokens,similar

tohowBitcoinminersareincentivizedtoprovideSHA256hashingservices

tothenetworkthroughBitcoinblockrewards.Users(clients)thenconnect

toservicesmadeavailablebyblockproducerssimilartousingclassical

internetservices.Sincetherearemultipleblockproducers,thereisa

distributedentrypointtoallsoftwareontheEOS.ionetworkunlike

classicalcentralizedwebapplications.img-source:EOS.IOretrievedfrom:

steemit.com</sub></sup>

Thisallowsforfeelesstransactionssinceaccountsareonlyrate-limited

basedontheirEOStokenbalance.ThemoreEOStokensanaccountholds,

themoreoftheirtransactionsanaccountcanexpecttobeincludedinthe

ledger.Thisgaslessprotocol(comparedtoEthereum)allowsforthe

buildingofrichdecentralizedconsumerapplications.

Additionally,theEOSprotocolhasaspecialprocessinwhichthe

communityvotestoallocateEOStokenstoupto3“communitybenefit

applications”thatdirectlybenefittheEOSnetwork.Animplementationof

theEveripediaNetworkonEOS.IOsoftwarewillplantoprovidemaximal

communityvalueandinnovationtobesuccessfullyconsideredforoneof

thesethreecovetedspots.[7]

EveripediaNetworkarticles(aswellastheirhistories)willbestoredusing

IPFSprotocolnodesincentivizedthroughEOSblockproducerrewards.

ThismeansthatEOSblockproducerswouldprovideIPFSretrievalof

articlestousersfreeofchargebutratelimitedbythebalanceofEOS

tokensheldbytheEveripediaNetworkEOSaccount.SinceEOSblock

producersareindependentnodeoperatorsontheEOSnetwork,anyblock

producercanretrieveEveripediaarticlestoarequestinguser.Inthis

sense,itwouldnotbepossibleforstatesorotherorganizationstoeasily

blockaccesstoEveripediaarticlesastheycandowithWikipediaby

blockingaccesstoacentralizedserveroraDNSrecordset(ie:thedomain

nameWikipedia.org).InordertoblockaccesstoEveripediaNetwork

content,actorswouldhavetopreventanyTCP/IPinteractionandpacket

exchangebetweenendusersandtheEOSmainnetentirelyasevenasingle

EOSblockproducercanprovideaccesstoEveripediacontent.Thistask,

whiletheoreticallyfeasible,issubstantiallymoredifficultthanblockinga

singledomainandismoreakintoattemptingtoshutdowntorrent

networksbygoingafterallindividualtorrentseeders-ataskthathas

consistentlyprovenimpossibleformanywell-fundedorganizationsand

stateactors.Additionally,itispossibleforcommunitymemberstohostany

setofarticlesfromtheirownprivateIPFSdaemonwhichlistensforedits

ofarticlesbyconnectingtotheEOSnetwork.Thismeansthatanyonewho

wishestohostarticles(orsomesubsetofarticles)candosofromany

locationorserverbyrunningtheirownIPFSnodeandlightEOSclient.

UndertheEOS.IOimplementation,anEveripedia“reader”isanyindividual

withaninternetconnectionthatcanaccesstheEOSmainnetwork.

ReadingandrequestingEveripediacontentisplannedtobefreetoallend

usersanddoesnotrequireanyIQtokenbalance.Conversely,anEveripedia

“user”isanyindividualwhopossessesafunctionalwallet(anEOS.IO

account)withavalidbalanceofIQtokenstoproposeedits.Userswillsign

alltheirtransactionswiththeassociatedprivatekeytodemonstrate

ownershipofavalidbalance.UsingtheEOS.IOaccountsystemallowsfor

variouswebstandardsandbenefitsthatarenotcurrentlyavailableon

otherblockchainssuchasaccountrecoveryandhumanreadable

usernames.Thiswouldessentiallycreateaseamlessuserexperience

similartousingawebapplicationwithclassicaluserandaccount

authentication.Additionally,itispossibletoleverageupcomingEOS.IO

identificationandreputationsystemstoincorporateintothevalidation

algorithmandeditapprovalprocesssuchthatpreviousedithistoriesand

identitiesofeditorscanbemeasuredintheconsensusprocess.

<sub><sup>Currentinternetcontentbusinessesarebasedonthemodel

ontheleft.Acompanyisformedwhichcreatesaserviceorplatformusing

rentedorboughtcentralizedserverhardware.Usersproducecontent

and/orusetheservice.Thebusinessownersextractvaluefromusers,

content-producers,andvaluecreatorsthroughadvertising,subscriptions,

andasmanymeansaspossibletopayforserverandbusinesscosts.The

profitsarethenaccruedforinvestorsandstockholders.Adistributed

autonomousplatform(right)usestokenvaluestorestoaligntheincentives

ofallparticipants(contentcreators,curators,bandwidth).Thereareno

centralstockholders,profit-takers,orrent-seekingbehaviorsinceall

participantsholdthesametypeofvaluestoreinthenetwork.All

participantsalsodirectlyworktowardmakingeachpartoftheservice

usefultoeachclassofparticipant.Img-sources(partiallyaltered):EOS.io

presentation.retrievedfrom:youtube.com</sub></sup>

DatabaseSchemaCollectivecollaborationrequiresagreednormsandstandards,especially

normsinhandlingthedatathatisstored,updated,andconsumed.

Bitcoin’sunspenttransactionoutput(UTXO)databasemodelisonly

effectivebecauseallnetworkparticipantsagreetokeepaccountvalues

storedinsuchastructure.Otherwise,thesamesecurityguaranteeswould

notbepossible.

The“databaseschema”refersthestructureofon-chainstorageinthe

EOS.IOblockchaininsideofthearticlemodule(theassociatedsmart

contract).ThedatabasefortheEveripediaNetworkwillbea2column

elementthatpertainstothecurrenthashofthearticlestate.Thesecond

elementistheimmediateprecedinghashofthepreviousstateofthe

articlewhichfunctionsasapointer.Thisallowsforatree-likestructureof

thehistoryofIPFShashesofthearticleandallowsquickqueryingofthe

EveripediaNetworkdatabasetofindthecurrentstateofanarticlein

relationtosomehistoricalsnapshot(aswellasanyforksormerges).This

issimilartoagitprotocoltreeofallpreviouscommitstoacodebase

excepttheworkdonetobecommittedisanencyclopediaarticleoredit.

Thisschemahastwotechnicalguaranteesthatmakeitidealfordistributed

ledgerstorage:1.Queryingforacompletestatetreeofanarticle

(thereforeshowingallprevioushistoricaledits).2.Easybranchingand

mergingofarticleswhilekeepingaunifiedhistoryofpreviousstates.

Anexampledatabaseof10rowsisshownbelow:

{

[QmPgLhaXAPYxx9isxGuxnBZA28WoUxhYsiRaPPbMKdvPAm,null],

[QmSRvE5W6WV4KGRwhttumnamJgGGyiaAGYLEaubRgRreP2,

QmPgLhaXAPYxx9isxGuxnBZA28WoUxhYsiRaPPbMKdvPAm]

[QmcmBixvVnzrswZ24BbzjbrkTvi4ZMbxZcZpfqjzkxmLYA,null]

[QmeAv3LJo4Kre6dR7GQBqjJFztY9YWZD131W5tYGStUcbM,null],

[QmXvHQCbvxp3vQm96VmZDBaTX8Aae6vVcoTvVB6QQsMXnM,

QmeAv3LJo4Kre6dR7GQBqjJFztY9YWZD131W5tYGStUcbM],

[QmYP7vvmy1MX7x6QDazd8opK4KB2NuhiLGbwBQWgxR552q,

QmXvHQCbvxp3vQm96VmZDBaTX8Aae6vVcoTvVB6QQsMXnM]

[QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco,null],

[QmcHn96sJBZY4QaGeDh6vVBDznygqbVCgh7bwHbskxcoaY,

QmeAv3LJo4Kre6dR7GQBqjJFztY9YWZD131W5tYGStUcbM]

[QmbtygxuXiQDYn1BWDjsJtHUVYuFzUUV6fdJZg8AL4axVB,

QmSRvE5W6WV4KGRwhttumnamJgGGyiaAGYLEaubRgRreP2]

[QmYP7vvmy1MX7x6QDazd8opK4KB2NuhiLGbwBQWgxR552q,

QmcHn96sJBZY4QaGeDh6vVBDznygqbVCgh7bwHbskxcoaY]

}

Thefirstelementineachtuplemarkssomecurrentstate,whilethesecond

elementreferstothepreviousarticlestate.Ifthesecondelementisnull,

thismeansthatthearticlestatehasnopreviousstate(meaningthearticle

wasjustcreated).Intheexampleabove,rows1,3,4,and7depictthe

creationofanewarticlewithnopreviousstate.Row2simplyshowsthe

articleinlineonebeingedited.Row9showsthearticlestateinrow2

beingedited(nowwith3totaleditsinitshistory)

Line5and8demonstrateanarticleofthesamestateforkingintotwo

differentstates(perhapseditedbytwodifferentcommunitiesortelling

differentnarrativesofthesametopic).Bothline5and8sharetheprevious

stateofanarticlecreatedonrow4.Row6showsthearticlein5being

editedfurtherbuttheforkedoffarticleinrow8clearlyignoresthechange

becauserow9depictsaneditmadetotheforkedarticle.Row10shows

theoriginalforkedarticleinrow8beingmergedbackintothearticlethat

itforkedfrom.Thetwoforkedarticlesarenowmergedintooneagain

(perhapsduetoaneditproposalandcommunityagreement).

Whiletheabovestructurehasmanyadvantages,ithasseveralissuesthat

shouldbedirectlyaddressed.Forexample,concurrenteditproposalscan

potentiallycauseissues.Ifoneindividualproposesanedittoanarticleand

submitsaneditobject,thenbeforethatobjectisfinalizedthrough

consensus,anothereditobjectreferencingthesameparenthash

essentiallycreatesanunintendedforkofthearticle.Apotentialwayto

resolvethisissuewouldbetoonlyallowonependingeditproposal

referencingthesameparenthashatatimeinthequeueofpendingedits.

<sub><sup>Visualschematicoftheabovedatabaseschemashowing4

distinctarticles:“UniversityofCalifornia,LosAngeles,”“TravisMoore,”

“QajarDynasty,”and“BarackObama.”Eacharticleishashed.Thefirstedit

ofanarticle(articlecreation)pointstoanullparenthash.Subsequent

editscreatenewcontentandhenceanewhashandpointtothearticle’s

immediatepreviousstate.Thisformsatreewhichmakesthearticle

history.</sub></sup>

ArticleDataStructureArticleswillbestoredasHTMLfiles.ThisisbecauseusingtheHTML

documentobjectmodelallowsforhighcompatibilityofpossiblefrontend

combinationsforthedatawhichisretrievedfromthenetwork.Byusing

HTML,anydevelopercancreateafrontendtodisplayarticlesin

customizedmanners,submitedits,andanalyzedatainsidethedocument.

DesignatedHTMLclassattributeswillbeusedtomarkspecificportionsof

articlessothatallfrontendsoftwarecaneasilydetectstandardsectionsof

anarticle.Suchclassescouldinclude“infobox,”“citation,”or“title.”A

datastructurestandardshouldbedecidedonbycommunitymembersand

earlyadoptersofthetechnologywhichshouldincludelinkingschemesand

hyperlinkrules(suchaswhetheronlyinternallinkstothedatabasecanbe

embeddedinarticlesetc).Althoughthestandardscan,intheory,be

changedwithagovernancevote,practicalapplicationofsuchadata-

structurechangeishighlycumbersomeassomechangesarenot

backwardscompatibleandwouldneedtoberetroactivelyappliedtoall

olderarticleswithinthenetwork.

Finally,withintheHTMLfile,therewillbeonedesignatedJSON-LDclass

forlinkeddatatotheobjecttopicofthearticle.Thisallowseasy

retrievabilityofkey-valuedescriptorsfromanyarticleusingAPIendpoints

andallowsbotstoaddinformationeasilytotheJSON-LDclass.JSON-LDis

usedtobuildrichgraphrelationshipsbetweenobjectsandiscurrently

usedinwebpagestodescribesemanticrelationshipsbetweenthe

webpage’stopicandcontent.Havingarobustdataclassforbuildingrich

graphrelationshipsbetweentopicswithinthearticlehelpscreateameta-

networklayerwhichcanbequeriedforrichdatabymachines,services,

andartificialintelligencetraining.

<sub><sup>EacharticleisanHTMLfilethatcanbeservedfromIPFS

nodesorEOS.IOstorageacrossmanyjurisdictionsandparticipants.CSS

andstylingisappliedonthefrontendUXlayerandcanbecustomizedby

websiteownersthatservethecontentandcompetewithotherfrontend

services.Thearticlecontent,metadata,andclassobjectsareeditedby

networkparticipantsandrequiretokenholderconsensus.</sub></sup>

BlockchainAgnosticismThiswhitepaperdiscussestheimplementationoftheEveripediaNetwork

usingEOS.IOsoftware.Itisentirelypossibleforthethreemodules

discussedabovetobebuiltandimplementedusingdifferentdistributed

ledgertechnologywhilepreservingthefundamentalsubstanceandutility

proposed.Additionally,itisentirelypossibletobuildthethreemodules

usingdifferentdistributedledgertechnologywhichinteractthroughcross-

blockchaintransfersofvalueanddata.Oneexampleofsuchan

implementationwouldbebuildinganentireblockchaininaproofofstake

systemusingtheEthereumPlasmaFramework.IQwouldactasthe

stakingtokenforproductionandpropositionofblocks.[5][6]Another

exampleofcross-chainimplementationcouldbebuildingthegovernance

moduleusingtheupcomingTezosnetworksinceTezossoftwareisbundled

withsophisticatedself-governancefeaturestobeusedforitsownnetwork

rule-making.Additionally,thestorageofarticleblobsthroughIPFSnodes

canbeincentivizedusingdifferentimplementations,suchasFilecoin,in

additiontoEOS.IOStorage(likediscussedabove).

Wikipediastartedwith1990sserverhardwareandarchitecturebut

upgradedtocachinginfrastructureandstateoftheartdatacenters.The

EveripediaNetworkisalongtermself-sustainableprojectthathasthegoal

ofcreatingthefirstglobaldecentralizedknowledgebase.Giventhatgoal,

thenetworkshouldspecificallyusetechnologythathaslongtermpotential

anddevelopersshouldkeepopenmindstowardsfuturescalingsolutions.

Thisallowsnetworkdevelopersandmaintainerstomakebetsonwhatwill

bevaluableblockchaintechnologytodayandintheforeseeablefuture,but

allowsbuildinganexpandableandplatformagnosticnetworkwhichcan

usemultiplebreakthroughtechnologiestofunctionefficiently.

Bounties,Services,Bots,Private

Edits,Marketplaces,andNetworkDevelopmentTheEveripediaNetworkisalight-protocol,meaningthatitisagnosticto

featuresandservicesbuiltonitsunderlyinginfrastructure.Forthisreason,

thenetworkdoesnotcomedirectlybundledwithserviceshard-codedsuch

asclassicaladvertisingorsubscriptions.Instead,thenetworkimposesa

nominaltransactionfeeonalltokeninteractionswhichisburnt

(governancebasedtransactionsandmessagesdonotaccrueafee).This

createsabaselayerforanecosystemofservices,bounty/freelancework,

andmarketplacesforcitationverificationservicesandothernoveluses.In

thisway,theEveripediaNetworkcouldsupportestablishedmedia

organizationssuchastheWikimediaFoundation(Wikipedia),CNN,and

NYTimestakingpartintheeditingandverificationprocessbycreating

theirownservicesandorganizationaccountsonthenetwork.Thisineffect

createsanecosystemwhereparticipantsarenotonlyencouragedtocreate

themostreliablecontentbutalsoencouragedtocreatethebesttoolsand

servicesforthecreationofcontent.Thisalsocreatesalargevolumeof

transactionswhichsuppliessizabletransactionfeeswhichareburnt.

Additionally,infutureupdates,itwouldbepossibletousezeroknowledge

succinctnon-interactiveargumentofknowledgeproofs(zk-SNARKs)to

publishstatechangestoarticleswithcompleteprivacy.Thishasatwofold

effect:1.)Individualscanproposecontentwithoutbeingpubliclyidentified

intheledger.2.)Curatorscanvotefororagainsttheproposalwithout

beingpubliclyidentifiedintheledger.Implementationofzk-SNARKs(or

otherzeroknowledgeproofs)wouldbedoneinthesamewaythatprivate

transactionproofsareperformedinz.cashandlikelytobeimplementedin

Ethereum.[8]Toproperlyusesuchtechnology,thebaseblockchainused

forthenetworkwouldlikelyneedtosupportzeroknowledgeproofsin

somecapacitysothatentireSNARKimplementationsdonothavetobe

“hand-rolled”bytheEveripediaNetwork’scontractcodeitself.

ConclusionTheEveripedianetworkusesIQtokens,whichtrackthestakesofusers

andactasincentiverewardsforcontentcreatorsandcurators.The

networkusesathreemodulesystem(token,governance,andarticle)to

createaself-sustainingdatabaseofencyclopediaarticles.Thestructureof

contentisuniformandstandardizedsothatitiseasilyanalyzed,

consumable,andimproveduponbyservices,front-endwebsites,AI,and

bots.Thedatabaseschemaallowsallthetechnicalguaranteesofpriorwiki

software(suchashistoricalsnapshotofallarticlestates)aswellasnew

functionsnotpossiblebefore(suchasdistributed,real-timehostingand

scalableforking&mergingofarticles)

Innovationintheencyclopediaindustryhasstagnatedinthepast10years.

Creatingasynchronized,collaborativeencyclopediadatabaseaccessibleby

allapplicationsontheinternetwillgeneratethenetworkeffectsrequired

tore-ignitegrowthandinnovationinthedocumentingofknowledge.

References[1]PageViewsforWikipedia,Bothsites,Normalized.(2005).Retrieved

Oct.&nov.,2017,from

https://stats.wikimedia.org/EN/TablesPageViewsMonthlyCombined.htm

[2]Matei,S.A.,&Britt,B.C.(2017).AnalyticInvestigationofaStructural

DifferentiationModelforSocialMediaProductionGroups.LectureNotes

inSocialNetworksStructuralDifferentiationinSocialMedia,69-84.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-64425-7_5

[3]Denning,P.,Horning,J.,Parnas,D.,&Weinstein,L.(2005).Wikipedia

risks.CommunicationsoftheACM,48(12),152.

doi:10.1145/1101779.1101804

[4]BlockchainInvesting-OlafCarlson-WeeandAaronHarris(25:01).

(2017,July19).RetrievedAugust10,2017,from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=9SYVX2wcMVM&feature=youtu.be&t=25m1s

[5]Buterin,V.,&Poon,J.(2017,August11).Plasma:ScalableAutonomous

SmartContracts.RetrievedAugust12,2017,from

http://plasma.io/plasma.pdf

[6]Poon,J.(2017,June17).OmiseGO:DecentralizedExchangeand

PaymentsPlatform.RetrievedJuly3,2017,from

https://cdn.omise.co/omg/whitepaper.pdf

[7]Larimer,D.,(Bytemaster),&Lavin,J.,(hkshwa).(2017,June3).EOS.IO

TechnicalWhitePaper.RetrievedJune11,2017,from

https://github.com/EOSIO/Documentation/wiki/Whitepaper-Test

[8]Buterin,V.(2017,November9).STARKs,PartI:Proofswith

Polynomials.RetrievedNovember10,2017,from

http://vitalik.ca/general/2017/11/09/starks_part_1.html

[9]LarimerD.,ScottN.,ZavgorodnevV.,JohnsonB.,CalfeeJ.,Vandeberg

M.Steem:Anincentivized,blockchain-basedsocialmediaplatform.March

2016.RetrievedJanuary7th,2018from

https://github.com/steemit/whitepaper/commit/da16f36bf23bc53d30b57787d7b9044d9c07399c