The By* Concept

By* is a unified services model. It is a coherent framework for enabling complex interactions among people, businesses and information. The By* framework is based on a formal engineering design approach. The architectural and design considerations are based on proper engineering discipline, rather than short-term marketing and business considerations. In creating By* we have considered the following sorts of questions:

• In creating such a framework, what are the key types of entity (individuals, businesses, etc.) that must be represented?
• For each type of entity, what is required to represent the entity in a highly generalized, abstract form?
• What structures and conventions are required so that these entities can be instantiated and named consistently, at a scale of 6 billion?
• What general classes of services are required to enable complex interactions among these entities?

None of these questions was asked during the explosive, organic growth of the Internet that brought us to where we are today. And this is what makes By* different. By* is a formal model for bringing structure and order to the Internet, at the scale of the entire planet.

By* is based on a set of key abstractions, representing the major real-world entities that must be represented within a generalized web structure. These entities include such things as individual persons, businesses, physical locations, and events. For each such entity we have defined the structures and conventions required to represent, instantiate and name that entity in a unified consistent way, and at a very large scale. We have then defined the major classes of services required to manage these entities, and to allow highly generalized interactions within and among each other.

The By* family of services

The By* family includes services oriented towards each type of abstracted entity. There are four services oriented towards individual persons: ByName, ByNumber, ByAlias, ByMemory. The first three of these provide services for living persons, while the fourth is dedicated to preserving the memory of deceased persons. The By* family also includes services oriented towards business entities (BySMB/ForSMB), physical locations (ByWhere), events (ByEvent), and services for publication of information (ByTopic). Last and most important, By* includes a set of services allowing complex interactions among the various types of abstracted entity (ByInteraction).

• ByName. ByName provides a complete set of Internet services for the individual user, including a personal domain, personal website, e-mail, integrated support for mobility, WhiteBerry mobile messaging, and various other capabilities.
  http://www.ByName.net

  Example named ByName instance: mohsen.1.banan.byname.net

• ByNumber. ByNumber provides access to appropriate components of By* service functionality, but based on a numerical ID assigned to the user instead of the user's name. ByNumber provides an alternative means of access to services using numeric devices such as telephone keypads.
  http://www.ByNumber.net

  Example named ByNumber instance: 20000.ByNumber.net

• ByAlias. A similar set of services to ByName, but based on an alias instead of the user's real name. All user-specific elements of a user's ByName account (domains, websites, e-mail accounts, etc.) are based on the user's real name. But there are circumstances where a user may wish to protect his or her true identity behind an alias. The ByAlias service supports this requirement. It is a companion service to ByName, providing appropriate services while protecting the user's identity.
  http://www.ByAlias.net

  Example named ByAlias instance: nemesis.ByAlias.com

• ByMemory. ByMemory is a set of services for preserving the memory of deceased persons. ByMemory has a complete set of features for this purpose, including features for creating memorials and biographies, for creating and maintaining shared genealogies, and for maintaining a photo gallery and guest book.
  http://www.ByMemory.net

  When an individual person dies, the person's ByName and ByNumber accounts are transitioned into a ByMemory account. Responsibility and authority for maintaining the deceased person's ByMemory account is assigned to another ByName account, designated by the deceased before his or her death.

  Example named ByMemory instance: yazdan.1.banan.ByMemory.net

• BySMB/ForSMB. A set of services based on the generalized abstraction of a business entity. The BySMB services are somewhat analogous to ByName, but oriented specifically to the needs of the Small-to-Medium Business (SMB) segment.
  http://www.BySMB.com

  Example named BySMB instances:
  www.Neda.BySMB.com
  www.Neda.com

• ByWhere. A set of services based on the generalized abstraction of a physical location. Such services are useful to individual users, who can use the ByWhere services for their personal residence, or to corporate users, who can use the services for their business address.
  http://www.ByWhere.net

  Example named ByWhere instance: info.1-98008-5807-10.ByWhere.net

• ByEvent. A set of services based on the generalized abstraction of an event. An event is anything that is scheduled to occur at a particular time, such as a meeting, conference, party, or any other type of time-delineated occurrence. ByEvent provides a complete set of features for creating and managing events. ByEvent is a fully integrated component of the By* family, allowing proper coordination of events with persons, businesses and locations.
  http://www.ByEvent.com

• ByTopic. A set of services for publication of information organized by topic.
  http://www.ByTopic.com

• ByInteraction. ByInteraction enables transactions involving persons, businesses, places and things. A transaction is any sort of interaction between two or more persons or businesses. ByInteraction provides a comprehensive set of capabilities for enabling transactions, including such things as classified advertising, auctions, job listings, resume posting, housing listings, dating, ridesharing, and many others.
  http://www.ByInteraction.com

  ByInteraction is a fully integrated component of the By* family, allowing proper coordination and linkage with the persons, places and things involved in the transaction.

Service Type	Service Name	Description
For businesses	www.BySMB.com	Internet services for small-to-medium businesses.
	www.ForSMB.com
For individuals	www.ByName.net	ByName provides a complete set of Internet services for the individual user.
	www.ByName.com
	www.ByNumber.net	ByNumber provides access to appropriate components of By* service functionality, but based on a numerical ID assigned to the user instead of the user's name.
	www.ByNumber.com
	www.ByAlias.net	A similar set of services to ByName, but based on an alias instead of the user's real name.
	www.ByAlias.com
	www.ByMemory.net	Services for preserving the memory of deceased persons.
	www.ByMemory.com
For places and events	www.ByWhere.net	Services relating to physical locations.
	www.ByEvent.net	Services relating to events.
For information	www.ByTopic.org	Services for publication of information organized by topic
For making things happen!	www.ByInteraction.net	ByInteraction enables transactions involving persons, businesses, places and things.

Table 1: The By* Family of Services

The By* services are summarized in Table 1. As shown in the table, each of the four services for individual users (ByName, ByNumber, ByAlias, ByMemory) is provided in the form of both a .net service and a .com service. The .com service is provided at no cost to users, without support or warranty, for demonstration and trial usage. The .net service is a paid subscription service, fully supported and advertising-free.

Service Type	Domain Name	Description
BySMB/ForSMB	www.neda.com	A software development and Internet services company. An extensive and comprehensive website with over 100 pages. Technologies: Jetspeed, Tomcat, Gallery.
	www.NewDinnerware.com	An online store selling fine porcelain tableware. Includes standard e-retail features: shopping cart, checkout, credit card payment. Technology: Interchange.
	www.TalkToUS.org	A non-profit organization promoting better international understanding. Enables communication via short personal video messages. Technologies: Jetspeed, Gallery, streaming video.
	www.PinaMotorsports.com	An auto repair and specialized auto customization shop. Technologies: Plone/Zope, Interchange, Gallery.
	www.Payk.net	A non-profit organization for grassroots communication among Iranians. Technologies: Plone/Zope, Gallery.
	www.AllMuslimCemetery.org	An Islamic cemetery. Related to ByMemory; many gravesites have associated ByMemory memorials. Technology: Plone/Zope.
	www.LibreServices.org	A non-profit forum and resource center for development of Libre Services. Technology: Plone/Zope.
	www.BySource.org	A Free Software distribution center.
ByMemory	yazdan.1.banan.bymemory.net	A memorial site. Includes a genealogy and photo gallery; multilingual. Technologies: Plone/Zope, GeneWeb, Gallery.
ByName	mohsen.banan.1.byname.net	A personal website for a professional engineer. Includes a genealogy and photo gallery; multilingual. Technologies: Plone/Zope, blog, GeneWeb, Gallery.
ByWhere	info.1-98008-5807-10.bywhere.net	A ByWhere site used to provide address and driving directions. Technologies: Apache, Gallery.
	ForRent.1-98008-5765-05.bywhere.net	A ByWhere site used to provide house rental information. Technologies: Apache, Gallery.

Table 2: By* Instance Examples

Examples of various existing By* instances are shown in Table 2.

By* Libre Engines

All By* services are Libre Services, and as such can be freely copied and reproduced by anyone.

The reproduction of any Libre Service is enabled by the existence of a corresponding Libre Service Engine. This is a complete, fully integrated package of service features and capabilities, ready for deployment and delivery by a service provider. It is part of the definition of a Libre Service that such an engine exist, ready for deployment without requiring any further software integration work. More information about the role of Libre Service Engines is provided in Libre Services: A non-proprietary model for delivery of Internet Services [1].

Each of the By* services has a corresponding By* Libre Engine, allowing the service to be reproduced in its entirety. We have established the BySource and ByBinary software distribution sites to provide the resources required to reproduce any By* service.

Naming principles

A consistent naming convention is essential in order to instantiate entities such as individual persons at extremely large scales. All object instantiations throughout By* are based on consistent naming principles. For example the ByName service provides each user with a personal domain based on the user's own name, using the naming schema:

homer.simpson.1.ByName.net

This naming schema allows an unlimited number of named instances. ByName users are required to provide their real names for this purpose; pseudonyms and aliases are not permitted. This implies a certain standard of authenticity and integrity on the part of both the ByName service and the ByName user.

User environments

Internet services work by communication over the Internet between a client application running in the user's computing environment, and a corresponding server application running within the service.

In the proprietary model the service is typically accessed via a web browser. It may also possibly be accessed via a dedicated client application provided by the service provider.

In the Libre Services model, however, there are no proprietary limitations placed on integration between the user's computing environment and the service. Since the service is completely transparent, any user environment can be integrated with any Libre Service.

Furthermore, a much deeper level of integration is now possible. In particular, free user environments (i.e. user environments based on free software) can be integrated with Libre Services. And since both the client and server sides of the service are now completely transparent, this permits a highly complex level of integration between the two. This allows the development of Internet services with a power and versatility that far exceeds what exists today.

The By* services can thus be greatly enhanced by providing the user with a ``matched'' environment--a user environment that is closely integrated with the service. This will provide the user with features and capabilities that go far beyond what is possible using the traditional generic browser access. The role of matched user environments is described in greater detail in Libre Services: A non-proprietary model for delivery of Internet Services [1].

At the appropriate point in our continued development of By* we will develop these matched user environments to enhance the utility of the By* services. For example see the Project Document titled ``Libre Emacs Office Environment (EOE)'' in the article Libre Services: Projects for bootstrapping [2]. The goal of this project is to establish Emacs as a complete user environment for interaction with the initial set of starting-point Libre Service Engines. These are the Libre Engines upon which the By* services are based, therefore the resulting user environment will be immediately applicable to By*.

Value propositions

The By* services provide a number of critical value propositions both to end users and to service providers.

• By virtue of being Libre Services, the protection of a number of critical freedoms and civil liberties, including privacy, freedom of speech, and freedom of information.
• Greatly enhanced user functionality based on the completeness and close integration among the By* family services.
• Greatly enhanced user functionality based on the deep integration between the By* services and the By* user environments.
• Constantly increasing richness of features and functionality via the free software development model.
• The By* services are designed in every way for scaling, and to be a long-term, enduring value proposition for all users. This does not refer just to the ability to accommodate large numbers of users, it refers to the naming architecture allowing unlimited spreading of the franchise model. This gives service providers a long-term rationale for buy-in.
• The By* structure provides the basis to address certain problems currently limiting and/or degrading the Internet, resulting from the unstructured manner in which it has arisen. A good example is public key encryption. Though of enormous value, this has not yet entered mainstream usage. The reason for this is that public key encryption requires large-scale uniformity and consensus of usage. In the existing Internet landscape consisting of multiple ad hoc non-interoperating islands of functionality, this is not possible. But By* provides precisely the large-scale uniformity of usage required to address problems like this.