Tipsy

Abstract

In this document I describe Tipsy. Today's models for paying online content creators are inadequate. With Tipsy, the idea of Voluntary Microdonations is revisited and modified to overcome the obstacles of previous and current attempts. I implemented a Google Chrome browser extension that logs a user's content consumption online and stores the information locally. Tipsy does not require any user input to decide which content is of particular interest to the user. Instead, Tipsy suggests a payment based on the user's browsing time. Tipsy reminds the user to pay and suggests a dollar amount. The user can pay the content providers directly. Tipsy uses no server, aside for some completely anonymous data gathering, and does not collect any money.