Path to Universal Standard

Infrastructure protocols trend toward natural monopoly, an observable pattern across technology history.

Examples:

TCP/IP: Multiple competing network protocols existed in the 1970s-80s (OSI, AppleTalk, IPX/SPX). TCP/IP won through openness, simplicity, and critical mass. Today it carries effectively 100% of internet traffic.

HTTP: Could have been Gopher, WAIS, or other document protocols. Won through simplicity and network effects.

SMTP: Emerged as email standard despite proprietary competition. Openness created lock-in.

OpenXR: Meta, Microsoft, and HTC converged on a shared standard because fragmentation was killing VR adoption.

GLTF: Competing with FBX, OBJ, and dozens of proprietary formats. Winning because it's open, efficient, and backed by major players - becoming the JPEG of 3D.

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Attribution Standard Opportunity

Attribution infrastructure has particularly strong network effects because value scales exponentially with adoption:

1,000 users: Works within small ecosystem. Limited utility.

100,000 users: Starts crossing platform boundaries. Creators can prove ownership as assets move between tools.

10M users: Becomes universal expectation. Platforms integrate by default because users demand it.

100M+ users: Invisible infrastructure. No one questions it, like no one questions TCP/IP.

The first protocol to reach critical mass likely wins permanently. This is the window.

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The Adoption Strategy

We follow a staged rollout designed to prove value quickly, then expand methodically:

Phase 1: Native Attribution in anitya Engine

Launch the protocol within anitya Engine using event sourcing. Every user action is logged automatically (opt-out, not opt-in), creating a tamper-evident chain of creative decisions.

Because we control the environment, this phase produces lightweight, deterministic logs rather than heavy video files. Scenes can be mathematically verified and even replayed from the event log.

This phase validates the core hypothesis: creators value provenance when it's effortless.

Phase 2: Universal Attribution Through Screen Recording

Expand attribution to any creative tool through screen recording. The anitya recorder runs as a background process, capturing work in Photoshop, Blender, Unity, or any software without requiring integration.

Smart recording minimizes overhead: activates only when creative tools are in focus, pauses during idle time, compresses aggressively. This produces video proof rather than event logs - heavier, but universal.

Screen recording makes attribution universal while the ecosystem matures.

Phase 3: Industry Standardization via SDK

Transition from external observation (recording) to native integration (event logging) through an open SDK that third-party tools can embed directly.

The SDK enables any software to capture attribution using the same event sourcing approach proven in Phase 1. We publish an open specification (the Open Creative Graph standard) defining a universal schema for creative actions across tools.

As adoption grows, attribution embeds directly in exported files (GLTF extensions, EXIF/XMP metadata, video container metadata). Files carry their own provenance.

When this happens, screen recording becomes optional for integrated tools. Attribution is built into the creative process itself, invisible infrastructure, like TCP/IP.