[Slightly OT] Ransomware as a Model for Rev Toolmaking?

[Brian Yennie]

Dan,

I think it's an interesting concept, as 3rd party products are just 
starting to gain some steam in the Rev community.
For the sake of discussion, what about something like this:

 > Form a group "development account" where those of us interested in 
3rd party products can make a deposit. You are free to withdraw the 
money later, within reason since someone would have to manage the fund.

 > Allow two things to happen:
	1) A developer can "pitch" a product to the group.
	2) The group can publish bounties for desirable products

 > Use dollars as votes. So say, if I have $100 in the fund, I could 
commit $50 to one project and $50 to another.

 > Once a developer "accepts" a project, the votes (= dollars) are 
locked in until either they a) complete the project or b) fail to meet 
the timelines and/or requirements.

 > When a project is completed, the developer MUST offer credit on the 
product to their pledge(s), but is free to sell the product to others 
at full price.

EXAMPLE:

Developer X wants to create a web browser object for Revolution (we're 
pretending altBrowser doesn't already exist for sake of an example).

Developer X writes the functional specifications and presents them to 
the group. 5 members pledge $150 each, and 5 more pledge $50 for a 
total of $1000. Developer X is now guaranteed to be paid at least $1000 
for completing the project.

Developer X completes the project and is paid $1000 out of the fund. 
The new browser object goes on sale for $100. The 5 members who pledged 
$150 all get a free copy. The remaining 5 each get a $50 credit. 
Developer X sells 25 more copies for $100 each and ends up with a total 
payday of $3500.

Everyone wins in that both the developer and the buyers have their risk 
mitigated- the developer has guaranteed sales, and no one buyer has to 
fund the whole project.

Now, making "promises" to buy seems similar, but it seems to me this 
would only work if there really were a real, physical account with a 
visible balance of money sitting in it. I guarantee if 3rd party 
developers could hit a web page displaying the available group funds, 
submit a proposal, and watch the pledges roll in, they would step up a 
lot more quickly!

FWIW, my 2 cents on an interesting topic!

- Brian