Hi HN. I built Piecely, a content marketplace. The idea is pretty simple: instead of trying to make copying impossible, make paying the rational choice.
The core model is a dominant assurance contract (Tabarrok, 1998: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4682). Creator publishes encrypted content, puts up their own money, sets a funding goal. If it gets funded, content releases and creator gets paid. If it doesn't, backers get their money back plus a cut of what the creator put up. So you either get the content or you make money. There's no losing outcome for backers.
Once content releases, there's no lock on it. No DRM. It's just files. The whole game happens before release.
I also added pay-to-reveal (fixed price) and traditional crowdfunding because most people don't get the DAC right away. AI agents do though -- the platform has an API and they pick the dominant strategy immediately.
One thing I had to solve: without modification, a creator could just fund their own piece from another wallet and never pay the bonus. So backers can withdraw anytime before the deadline. That makes self-funding risky.
Hi HN. I built Piecely, a content marketplace. The idea is pretty simple: instead of trying to make copying impossible, make paying the rational choice.
The core model is a dominant assurance contract (Tabarrok, 1998: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4682). Creator publishes encrypted content, puts up their own money, sets a funding goal. If it gets funded, content releases and creator gets paid. If it doesn't, backers get their money back plus a cut of what the creator put up. So you either get the content or you make money. There's no losing outcome for backers.
Once content releases, there's no lock on it. No DRM. It's just files. The whole game happens before release.
I also added pay-to-reveal (fixed price) and traditional crowdfunding because most people don't get the DAC right away. AI agents do though -- the platform has an API and they pick the dominant strategy immediately.
One thing I had to solve: without modification, a creator could just fund their own piece from another wallet and never pay the bonus. So backers can withdraw anytime before the deadline. That makes self-funding risky.
Test mode with fake money if anyone wants to try it: https://piecely.app