PROVISIONAL PATENT APPLICATION: Method and Apparatus for Charging Internet Users for Forward Motion on a Public Progress Bar

The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for charging individual users of a wide-area information network in exchange for incremental positive movement of a single shared scalar value displayed visually as a horizontal rectangle, and more particularly to such systems wherein the user receives no goods, services, or other consideration in exchange for said payment beyond the incremental movement itself.

Prior art in the field of internet-mediated value transfer is extensive but, in the inventor's submission, materially flawed. Existing systems (collectibles, tokens, subscriptions, memberships, advertising-supported services) all share a common defect: each purports to deliver something to the buyer beyond the act of payment.

The instant invention departs from this tradition by delivering, in exchange for payment, only the incremental movement of a public scalar. The buyer receives a receipt; the receipt's sole content is a record of the movement having occurred. No further consideration is provided. No further consideration is, in fact, contemplated.

The disclosed invention comprises (a) a publicly visible horizontal rectangle of variable fill displayed at a network location, (b) a payment-acceptance facility communicatively coupled to the rectangle, and (c) a settlement mechanism that, upon receipt of one (1) unit of national currency, increments the fill of said rectangle by one one-hundredth of one percent (0.01%). Upon achievement of one hundred percent (100%) fill, the rectangle resets and the cycle recommences.

The rectangle, hereinafter referred to as “the bar,” is rendered to the user via standard hypertext transport. The bar exhibits a characteristic length-to-height ratio of approximately one hundred to one and is colored such that the filled portion is visually distinguishable from the unfilled portion.

The payment-acceptance facility communicates with a third- party payment processor (“Stripe,” not part of the present invention) via secure tokens. Upon successful settlement, a control signal is dispatched to the bar state-management subsystem, which atomically increments the fill value and broadcasts the new fill value to all connected viewers via a polling mechanism (10-second intervals; see also concurrent application titled Method for Falsifying Real-Time Updates Using Server- Bucketed Random Sequences, withdrawn).

The cap of the bar (the value at which a cycle is deemed complete) drifts upward at a rate of approximately five one-hundredths of one percent per twenty-four-hour cycle. The drift is, per the operations panel, a satirical inflation feature; the inventor expresses no opinion as to whether this constitutes a feature or a defect.

1. A method comprising: (i) displaying a horizontal rectangle on a publicly accessible network location; (ii) accepting, from any unauthenticated user, a payment of approximately one unit of national currency; (iii) incrementing, in response to said payment, the fill of said rectangle by approximately one one-hundredth of one percent; (iv) providing the user with a receipt indicating that step (iii) has been performed; and (v) providing the user with no further consideration of any kind.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the receipt is the entire transaction.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein, upon achievement of one hundred percent fill, the rectangle resets and a new cycle begins, and wherein no token, certificate, or other proof of having contributed to the previous cycle is preserved beyond the receipt of step (iv).
4. The method of any of claims 1-3, further including a second payment-acceptance pathway accepting half a unit of national currency in exchange for negative incremental movement of the fill, hereinafter referred to as the “saboteur” embodiment.
5. An apparatus configured to perform the method of any of claims 1-4, comprising a Next.js application, a Postgres database, and a willingness on the part of the operator to charge real money for the receipt described therein.

FIG. 1 depicts the bar in its initial state (0% fill).

FIG. 2 depicts the bar in an intermediate state (approximately 67% fill, drifting). A cluster of ghost-tagged transactions is visible in a sidebar feed.

FIG. 3depicts the bar at 100% fill, in the process of resetting. A celebration overlay is visible. No token is being minted. No certificate is being issued. The finisher's display name is being recorded for the duration of one (1) week, after which it is moved to an archive page.

A method and apparatus for charging users of a wide-area information network in exchange for incremental movement of a publicly visible scalar value. Each unit of payment produces an equivalent quantum of forward motion. No further consideration of any kind is delivered to the payer. The system has been observed in production; the system is operational; the system is, at the time of this filing, climbing.