Writing on Medium on the 4th of July, famed Yale University computer scientist David Gelernter called for a populist revolution against Facebook and outlined ‘three grievances’ against the company, advocating for a massive public database built on blockchain, and a social crypto-marketplace as a replacement.

In the new marketplace and social network designed by Dr. Gelernter, which will sit on top of the public database, advertisers pay users for their content, and consumer’s control their data as they see fit. It’s Facebook upside down.

“If we don’t act soon, we will surrender our natural digital property rights to Facebook and other companies who have colonized the Internet,” says Dr. Gelernter, who invented the world’s first social network and cloud and will serve as Chief Visionary Officer for Revolution Populi. “The data that describes you is your life  ̶  it belongs to you, not to Facebook, nor any of these companies.”

As part of the announcement, Revolution Populi unveiled its website and White Paper, which calls for the creation of a decentralized, publicly-governed blockchain database, which any company or organization will be able to access, and the company’s vision for a maiden social app to begin feeding the database its data.

“The solution is elegantly simple,” says Rob Rosenthal, CEO of Revolution Populi. “It’s a public blockchain database with apps sitting on top of it. That’s it. If you look at the arc of David’s career, you’ll see that he has a unique ability to design the future. The solution that he’s putting forward with our team today will ultimately stand as the public database of the future, an engine for extraordinary innovation, fairness, and limitless possibilities.”

The ecosystem that Gelernter and his colleagues envision will be one in which advertisers pay users directly in cryptocurrency, and users then use that money for digital services like music streaming, or as straight income. The company itself will make money as a cryptocurrency exchange and intends to fund these efforts through a token sale, with more details to be released soon.

Revolution Populi was founded by four leaders from distinct backgrounds: Dr. David Gelernter, the renowned computer scientist, futurist, artist and cultural critic who teaches at Yale University; Rob Rosenthal, a 19-year veteran of Goldman Sachs and former NYC punk rock artist who once ran for US Congress with $300, taking over 20% of the vote; Dr. Paolo Coppola, an engineer, entrepreneur, doctor and Academy Award winning film producer; and Todd Aydelotte, an award-winning technology public relations professional.

SOURCE Revolution Populi