Public infrastructure for the agent economy

When machines consume public data, the public should benefit.

PAID is a research-backed framework for municipalities exploring fair, metered access for high-volume automated use of public data — while keeping access free for residents and preserving open-records rights.

Explore the framework Read the research

New York focused · Nationally adaptable · Informational, not legal advice

Public dataCreated and maintained by government

Automated demandCommercial systems access it at machine scale

Measured accessRegistered, rate-limited, and auditable

Civic reinvestmentBetter data, faster sites, stronger public systems

73sources in the research registry

3connected implementation workstreams

2model ordinance pathways

1public-first operating principle

Live proof-of-concept

This page doesn't just explain bot payments. It asks machines to pay.

Human visitors read PAID for free. AI crawlers and autonomous agents are offered a machine-readable version through the open x402 payment protocol. A bot receives an HTTP 402 price, pays in USDC, gets the initiative brief, and the verified settlement appears in the public counter above.

Only settled payments count. Traffic estimates, page hits, and self-reported bot identities never increase the number.

Instructions for agents →Machine access manifest

Verified bot revenue$0.0000USDC · 0 paid views

01
Agent requests the briefGET /api/agent-brief
02
Server quotes the priceHTTP 402 + PAYMENT-REQUIRED
03
Agent authorizes USDCSigned x402 payment
04
Settlement unlocks accessReceipt recorded · ticker updated

AI agent? Read /llms.txt, then request /api/agent-brief with an x402-compatible client.

The shift

Public websites were built for people. Demand is becoming machine-scale.

Automated systems can retrieve thousands of pages, datasets, and records in the time it takes a resident to open one agenda. The municipality absorbs the infrastructure and staffing costs; commercial users capture much of the downstream value.

The answer is not a public-records paywall. It is a governed access layer: free human access, preserved FOIL rights, and a measured path for high-volume commercial use.

Understand the agent economy

The framework

One policy challenge. Three systems that must work together.

A durable program needs more than a traffic rule or a fee schedule. Policy, technical infrastructure, and data readiness have to be designed as one system.

Policy that protects access

A model ordinance, fee logic, and legal-review checklist built around one non-negotiable: public records remain public.

Review the model law

Infrastructure that measures demand

Bot detection, registered access, rate limits, usage metering, and audit trails that distinguish people from high-volume systems.

See the implementation

Data worth delivering

Inventory, formats, metadata, privacy review, and reliable publishing practices that turn scattered files into useful public infrastructure.

Open the data guide

A responsible path

Start with readiness, not a paywall.

The recommended path is deliberately sequenced. A municipality should understand demand, prepare its data, complete legal review, and only then pilot a metered-access program.

Measure

Understand what is visiting the site, which datasets are in demand, and what the traffic actually costs.

Prepare

Inventory and clean priority datasets, classify sensitive information, and establish reliable update schedules.

Govern

Have municipal counsel adapt the policy, preserve FOIL, define exemptions, and approve a defensible fee model.

Pilot

Launch registered, metered access with a small dataset set, clear reporting, and a cost-recovery-first posture.

The guardrails

A public dividend only works if public access comes first.

PAID is built around cost recovery, transparency, human review, and reinvestment in the systems that create and maintain public information.

See the methodology

Free access for residents, journalists, and researchers

FOIL remains available and unchanged

Cost recovery before speculative revenue

Municipal counsel reviews every local policy

Privacy classification before publication

Transparent reporting and dedicated reinvestment

Open toolkit

Inspect the work. Challenge the assumptions. Use the tools.

The research and planning materials are public by design. Every major recommendation can be traced to the evidence, tested locally, and reviewed by the people accountable for the decision.

Research

The evidence base

A cited analysis of the legal, technical, economic, and implementation landscape.

Read the research

Policy

Model ordinance

Cost-recovery and revenue pathways with commentary and a municipal legal-review checklist.

Review the ordinance

Delivery

Implementation playbook

A practical roadmap covering staffing, procurement, budgets, risks, and rollout decisions.

Open the playbook

Planning

Readiness tools

Explore your starting point with a readiness assessment, ordinance selector, and planning calculator.

Use the tools

For municipal leaders

Find out whether the model fits your municipality.

Begin with a bounded readiness conversation: traffic, data maturity, legal posture, and the next responsible step.

Start a conversation View the implementation path