Reputation Points and Governance
Decisions will have to be made, so we must have a structure in place for making them. We plan on using a system of "NTENT" tokens and Reputation Points for this facilitated by Colony.
Let's illustrate this with a simple example. Let's say someone wants $5,000 from the DAO treasury to buy materials to build a tiny house. They create a proposal for this, which requires staking NTENT tokens. Jane wants to vote "yes" to release the funds, but another member named Ron does not. They are both members of the DAO, but Ron has earned very little Reputation, meaning worked on the land, earned many bounties, or spent much time on the Discord channel. Jane, however, is always proposing constructive ideas for the community, ensures the website stays up-to-date, and comes to work parties on the land whenever she can. Jane has earned a good amount of NTENT tokens and will also have amassed a lot of reputation points for these things. (Reputation is awarded when someone is paid in NTENT tokens by the DAO, so no one can buy influence by buying tokens). Therefore, Jan's vote on the proposal will carry much more weight than Ron's.
Now let's say Sidney has contributed the same amount of time and energy as Jane, but all of his contributions were toward the beginning of the project which was a year ago. He has earned a comparable amount of NTENT tokens as Jane, but over time his Reputation Points have decreased (they fade over time.) He will be able to stake his tokens to make and support proposals, but if a proposal requires a vote (which only happens when someone objects to something), his vote will hold much less sway than Jane's. We think this is fair because Jane will be much more up to date with the state of things and will also probably have more trust among current active DAO members. At the same time, Ron did devote a chunk of his life to the project and has a place in his heart for it. The tokens allow him a way to slowly regain a seat at the table if he so chooses.
Or Ron could sell his tokens. This is his choice, and we believe that members should be able to cash out if they want. After all, we all live in the real world and have expenses to pay, and the ability to sell tokens makes earning tokens more valuable, which will entice more people to participate in our DAO.
And the person who bought all of Ron's tokens? Yes, he will have a slightly increased ability to work towards gaining Reputation, but only if he immerses himself in our community and values and supports successful proposals. We believe this is necessary for the reason mentioned above. Some people contribute time, some expertise, and some money. Mr. Money Bags can buy our tokens and thereby put upward pressure on its value, making it more lucrative for other people to contribute their time to our project. "But Mr. Money Bags could be an oil baron and stand against everything we stand for!" you say. That's why the reputation points exist to keep his power in check. The DAO can decide to reward reputation points to those who uphold our values and keep them from those who don't. Also, there are some other mechanisms we can use to make sure nere-do-wells aren't able to bogart our community. (For example, if someone figures a way to game the system, the community can decide to join together and "smite" this person, removing reputation). In this way, power becomes like an amoeba blob that slowly moves in an intentional way towards people that vibe with our community. We won't go into more details here because this short example is already too long. Ask in the Discord if you're curious or read our Green Paper or even the Colony white paper, but just know we want to make sure that if you join our community looking to make money, you better damn well have drunk our cool-aid.