Universal Utilities for Networked Worlds

General Networks builds and maintains the digital backbone of networked worlds. By developing and deploying low-cost Digital Public Utilities founded on principles of universal design, we empower online communities and networked enterprises with accessible and enduring infrastructure. Our solutions form the cornerstone of a global, democratic, and autonomous digital society, making digital engagement affordable and universally accessible.

What is a Digital Public Utility?

• A Digital Public Utility is a neutral and decentralized service or platform, often in the form of a protocol, that provides essential functionality for networked worlds.
• These utilities are designed to be universally accessible, democratic, and enduring. They serve as a cornerstone for online communities and networked enterprises.
• Founded on principles of universal design, they strive to make digital engagement both affordable and widely accessible. Their aim is to build and maintain the digital backbone of networked worlds, thereby facilitating a more equitable and autonomous digital society.
• Digital Public Utilities embody and preserve the rights and freedoms of the emerging networked civilization. These include, but aren’t limited to: Plurality, Privacy, Exit, Assembly, Due Process, Digital Death (To be Forgotten), Ownership / Sovereignty, Mobility, and Trade.
• Unlike purely private enterprises, Digital Public Utilities have a cost the converges to the cost of gas of the network. They are also interface agnostic and inclusive of autonomous agents (bots and content).
• Examples of emergent Digital Public Utilities today include: ENS, POAPs, Tornado Cash, Uniswap, Snapshot, Jokerace, Hats, MolochDAO, Safe, Chainlink, Tether / USDC, DAI, Arweave, IPFS, Etherscan, etc.
• Digital Public Utilities can be easily forked if corrupted, since their operational exhaust is in the form of Infrastructure Media (portable between protocols).
• Infrastructure Media allows utilities to compose with each other through reliable object standards.
• They are the default service provider (think like municipal wifi, water, electricity) but do not prevent competition by any other entity.

Digital Public Utility Test (Score out of 10)

• [ ] Does not infringe on netizen rights and freedoms (e.g. is not rent seeking, right to exit)
• [ ] Universally Accessible
• [ ] Incentives agent-to-agent cooperation over competition
• [ ] Persistent (aim for >50 year lifespan)
• [ ] Produces composable infrastructure media (e.g. data/activity is tokenised owned by user)
• [ ] Democratically governed
• [ ] Credibly Neutral