Principles of the Arweave network.

At the time of writing, the Arweave network has been operational for 4 years. During this period of initiation, the network has attracted a significant community and undergone a number of technical transformations. Throughout these iterations the network's fundamental purpose and characteristics have remained unchanged. It is these factors that the Arweave community has coalesced around with such unity.

In this document these characteristics are elucidated, such that they may serve as our binding principles. Much of the material form of the network may change over time, but these immutable principles define our collective purpose.

The core principles of the Arweave network are as follows:

1. Permanently secure the world's knowledge. The Arweave network must provide a system of data permanence. The permanence of the network's data should be achieved through pursuit of whichever economic method enables the highest assurance of future sustainability, while keeping costs for data storage minimal so as not to unnecessarily impede access and utility. In order to ensure that the data is permanently available an architecture without centralized points of failure must be pursued, such that catastrophe in one or a number of physical locations does not endanger the network's dataset, or its progression.
2. Ensure the right to speech in cyberspace. Arweave is a public ledger of speech in cyberspace, open to all that desire to communicate. All parties must be able to store data in the Arweave network for the minimal cost that will ensure economic viability. This freedom to store data within the network must be moderated by only one consideration: No other participant should be forced by the network to store content that they do not wish to perpetuate. By allowing free choice of what to replicate, the network ensures that participants are able to maintain compliance with their moral and legal responsibilities, without imposing their positions upon others.
3. Guarantee the right to listen. By default, data in Arweave is stored in unencrypted form, replicated across the world. While the ledger itself may contain cyphertext, access to the ledger's contents must always be maintained without restriction, enabling the widest achievable access.

These are the principles that the Arweave network has been engineered to fulfill, and around which social consensus in our community has emerged.

As our community grows there will be many challenges and unforeseen circumstances to face. It is intended that by definitively solidifying them here, these principles will serve as the northstar that orients our future collective work.