Hi! After observing successes of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, I've come up with an idea that could benefit producers of free audio plugins and create a kind of "stock market" for free audio plugins industry. I think this idea is doable, but since I'm a resident of Russia I have legal limitations to work on it myself. Some people with domestic ICO projects ended up in jail. This may be different in other countries like Japan. At this time I may not even be able to benefit from such a project.
Many of you are familiar with the idea of "mining". Its main use is to provide blockchain with data that can't be forged easily. Another use is to create new coins.
The idea is to attribute mined coins not only to miners but also to producers of free audio plugins, probably in proportion 10% to miners, 90% to producers. Later even commercial producers may become a part of the blockchain.
So, instead of investing resources into "hashing power" which mining uses, one would invest resources into developing and marketing plugins.
The most tricky part here is how to spread the coins between producers. This requires a kind of "consumer proof" similar to "proof of work". Of course, the most complex problem is how to minimize the chance of faking "consumer proof".
The basic elements of the blockchain (they involve public-private key pairs):
wallet (similar to most cryptocurrencies, used to transfer coins)
producer record (name, website)
product record (name, website, producer-defined part number)
consumer record (name, address)
production record (refers to product record and niche index)
consumption record (refers to production record and consumer record)
When a product is "produced" a production record is added to the blockchain. The product also claims a niche (e.g. in the range 0-15), the mined coins are evenly spread between claimed niches, in each niche mined coins are further spread between actually consumed products.
In the case of plugins, "production" means the issuance of a single product key.
When a consumer "consumes" a product which means he downloads and installs a product, a "consumption record" is added to the blockchain, "signed" by the consumer (with an imposed limit of like 1 signature per day or 1000 blocks, depending on blockchain's frequency). The consumption record claims a production record, production record can be claimed only once.
When miners find a new blockchain block, they process the "consumption records", finalize claims and calculate producer coin rewards.
In a general case, such blockchain requires a central authority for "consumer records" so that they can't be easily faked or robotized.
What's the purpose? Plugin industry reached its peak, most commercial producers frequently offer insane discounts, so the money supply is obviously at the decline. Creating a "stock market" for this industry offers a chance to inject a huge speculative capital from all parts of the world. In the end, this may benefit the pro audio user in the form of new innovative products.