Contents Cover About the Author Title Page Dedication Epigraph Introduction Three Eras of Networks A New Movement Seeing the Truth Determining the Internet’s Future Part One: Read. Write. 1: Why Networks Matter 2: Protocol Networks A Brief History of Protocol Networks The Benefits of Protocol Networks The Fall of RSS 3: Corporate Networks Skeuomorphic and Native Technologies The Rise of Corporate Networks The Problem with Corporate Networks: The Attract-Extract Cycle Part Two: Own. 4: Blockchains Why Computers Are Special: The Platform-App Feedback Loop Two Paths to Adoption: “Inside Out” versus “Outside In” Blockchains Are a New Kind of Computer How Blockchains Work Why Blockchains Matter 5: Tokens Single-Player and Multiplayer Technologies Tokens Represent Ownership The Uses of Tokens The Importance of Digital Ownership The Next Big Thing Starts Out Looking Like a Toy 6: Blockchain Networks Part Three: A New Era 7: Community-Created Software Modding, Remixing, and Open Source Composability: Software as Lego Bricks The Cathedral and the Bazaar 8: Take Rates Network Effects Drive Take Rates Your Take Rate Is My Opportunity Squeezing the Balloon 9: Building Networks with Token Incentives Incentivizing Software Development Overcoming the Bootstrap Problem Tokens Are Self-Marketing Making Users Owners 10: Tokenomics Faucets and Token Supply Sinks and Token Demand Tokens Can Be Valued Using Traditional Financial Methods Financial Cycles 11: Network Governance The Nonprofit Model Federated Networks Protocol Coups Blockchains as Network Constitutions Blockchain Governance Part Four: Here and Now 12: The Computer versus the Casino Regulating Tokens Ownership and Markets Are Inextricable Limited Liability Corporations: A Regulatory Success Story Part Five: What’s Next 13: The iPhone Moment: From Incubation to Growth 14: Some Promising Applications Social Networks: Millions of Profitable Niches Games and the Metaverse: Who Will Own the Virtual World? NFTs: Scarce Value in an Era of Abundance Collaborative Storytelling: Unleashing Fantasy Hollywood Making Financial Infrastructure a Public Good Artificial Intelligence: A New Economic Covenant for Creators Deepfakes: Moving Beyond the Turing Test Conclusion Reinventing the Internet Cause for Optimism Acknowledgments Notes Index Copyright 289 v vii xiii xiv xv xvi xvii xviii xix xx xxi xxii xxiii xxiv xxv xxvi xxvii xxviii 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 47 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 94 93 95 97 98 99 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 183 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 Cover Frontmatter Contents Begin Reading