Under The Sun

What would a web services co-op look like? I asked that before, and I imagined an organization that could do many things. Perhaps too many. One trouble with a co-op is the potential for disputes and infighting among members. If a web co-op had a wide-open mission, then the particulars would end up getting fought out by the members. At the end of the day little would get accomplished.

Co-op à la Carte

This weekend I was struck with an idea. What if each web service was rolled out as a separate co-op with a very focused mission? For example, a web-mail service would be implemented by a single co-op with a mission to provide web-mail services to its members. Each service — online calendar, storage, VoIP, etc. — would run under its own co-op and have its own mission. Then, users could join one or more co-op depending on the services they wanted. Competing co-ops might even emerge offering similar services but based on different software. This model would solve the problem of trying to serve many members who have many different desires.

Co-op Federation

The top-level organization, then, would be responsible for providing very basic services to this federation of cooperatives:

• Co-op Organization Template (’instant co-op’ kit)
• User ID Service
• Web Hosting
• Arbitration Services
• Federation Principles — Members agree to basic rules, such as:
  • Drafting a Very Focused Mission
  • Respecting Basic User Rights
    (a basic TOS that can be built upon)
  • Disputes Resolved by Arbitration

Perhaps the federation rules would be baked into the co-op template, and using this template could be required for federation membership. This might sound confining (rules! rules! rules!), but it would help assure consistently high-quality service to the users.

The Federation itself might be organized as a non-profit.

Anybody have a better word to use than federation? “Co-op Federation” is just too thick with loftiness.

UPDATE: Here’s a cute abbreviation for “co-op federation”:
co-fe — pronounced coffee.