Qrate

Qrate is a conceptual design for non-profit, digital library with an integrated patronage system that allows creators to get paid for their work. Everyone has free access to the world’s digital art and information while more people can make a living doing what they love.

Qrate is designed around the principles of access, freedom, transparency, and always doing the right thing for both creators and their patrons. We now have the technology to distribute the world’s best digital art, entertainment, knowledge and software to everyone for free. The question we have to answer is not “how do we stop everyone from having access”, but how do we pay and reward those who enrich our lives with the culture that inspires us and makes life worth living, how do we encourage the sharing of knowledge that enlightens and empowers us and how do we encourage the creation of software tools that allow us to further create and share. Qrate’s answer is to simply give you the freedom to pay; invest in projects and artists or reward those already finished. Develop your reputation as a patron of the arts — let the world know how thankful you are — how much you value what you’ve been given. You can never be ripped off again — you pay when you want, however much you want, to whatever projects or whomever you want.

Qrate is designed to harness the realities of current technology and remain open to integrating future technologies. Qrate is not designed to control. Instead, it empowers both the artists whose work it distributes and everyone who supports those artists. Everyone who uses Qrate to support art and artists becomes a patron of the arts, and a large number of patrons who contribute small amounts can collectively fund even the largest projects. Supporting art doesn’t need to be difficult or laborious. Patrons use automation and social networks along with flexible and evolving sets of programmable rules, called RuleCodes, to distribute their money easily, fairly and wisely. Every RuleCode is free, open source software competing in a market — the best RuleCodes make creators feel that they are fairly compensated, and in turn they generate income for those that designed and built that RuleCode. In this way we can create an environment that enriches and supports artists. This support is the incentive for each of us to create our own art.

Qrate, Inc. is just beginning its mission and is looking for experienced software engineers and technical staff. If you are interested in helping to make Qrate a reality please email me.