February 2024

I don't have *everything* sorted just yet Rick ;) For social, we have to see how things shake out exactly but assuming we have a defined protocol (you need standards to make tech legible to automate governance) then I think we can create a light legal hook for intervention.

Basically, a host/system (e.g. federated) can get safe haven for illegal content if they support composable moderation, pluggable recommendations, etc. These are paid-for (directly or via ads) and subject to light tax.

Alternatively: an interop mandate (light law) for federated hosting with credible exit (à la ATProto) and a light tax on that market (which ought to be a commodity market). I think a small search tax is enough to pay for browsers+standards — others taxes can be even lighter.

For ecomm, this is harder but I'd like all transactions — including cart management — to be browser-mediated. It's nonsense that people keep rebuilding that and your browser could do things like find better prices or pick an alternative delivery option. Interop mandate?

I don't at all think I have it all figured out, but I think that it's feasible if we try. I'm also not sure how we can keep financing browsers sustainably if we don't change the current model.