Editing Threshold pledge system (section)

==Street Performer Protocol==
Street Performer Protocol is an early description of a type of threshold pledge system. SPP is the threshold pledge system encouraging the creation of creative works in the [[public domain]] or [[copyleft]]ed, described by Steven Schear<ref>Steven Schear. [https://web.archive.org/web/20040624034123/http://freedom.orlingrabbe.com/lfetimes/copyleft.htm "COPYLEFT: Rethinking Intellectual Property in the Digital Age"] ''Laissez Faire City Times,'' Vol 2, No 16, May 25, 1998.</ref> and separately by [[cryptographer]]s [[John Kelsey (cryptanalyst)|John Kelsey]] and [[Bruce Schneier]].<ref name="SPP"/> This assumes that current forms of [[copyright]] and business models of the creative industries will become increasingly inefficient or unworkable in the future, because of the ease of copying and distribution of digital information.

Under the Street Performer Protocol, the artist announces that when a certain amount of money is received in [[escrow]], the artist will release a work (book, music, software, etc.) into the public domain or under a [[free content]] license. Interested donors make their donations to a publisher, who contracts with the artist for the work's creation and keeps the donations in escrow, identified by their donors, until the work is released.

If the artist releases the work on time, the artist receives payment from the escrow fund. If not, the publisher repays the donors, possibly with interest. As detailed above, contributions may also be refunded if the threshold is not reached within a reasonable expiring date. The assessed threshold also includes a fee which compensates the publisher for costs and assumption of risks.

The publisher may act like a traditional publisher, by soliciting sample works and deciding which ones to support, or it may serve only as an escrow agent and not care about the quality of the works (like a [[vanity press]]). {{Citation needed|date=May 2012}}