The Birthmark Standard Foundation

The Birthmark Standard Foundation is a fiscally sponsored project of Aspiration Tech. It develops the Birthmark Protocol and coordinates the Birthmark Media Registry. All of its code is open source.

The Foundation is the registry's coordinator, not its owner. It maintains the code and documentation, sets up new nodes and convenes the consortium. It does not control the registry's data and cannot change the blockchain on its own.

The Birthmark Media Registry is run by a consortium of independent organizations, not by a single company or government.

• Who operates it: Organizations in journalism, fact-checking, press freedom and information integrity each run one or more Registry Nodes. Organizations whose main mission is producing media are not eligible, to avoid a conflict of interest.
• No concentration: No organization may hold more than 2 nodes or 10% of all nodes, whichever is higher. Related organizations count as one.
• Decisions: One vote per node. Major decisions, including protocol changes and removing a member, need a 67% supermajority.
• Legal compulsion: A member compelled by a government to violate the charter is removed. A government can remove one node; it can't quietly capture the network.
• Manufacturers: Camera manufacturers and software developers run the services that confirm devices are registered. They are integrators, not consortium members, and each must have its database independently audited to confirm it can't map devices to submissions.
• Neutrality: Running a node confers no editorial authority. The registry verifies where an image came from, not what it shows.

During the current development phase, the Foundation Board holds governance authority. Organizations can take part as Founding Advisors, with no voting rights or purchase obligation, and help shape the technical and governance design.