identification system through which the identities of all entities of the social ecosystem can be authenticated.

The trust infrastructure has for root an unconditional covenant, and it includes seminal edicts that establish the governance of the policy infrastructure. The Ten Commandments, the United States Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, are examples of such edicts. Rituals form the backbone of the trust infrastructure, conveying a uniting understanding and promulgation of the trust evaluation system. Also, the policy infrastructure includes a consequences sub-system that is the domain of exception conditions relative to the application of policy within the governance of the trust infrastructure. As far as policy is concerned, there is no law without punition; as far as trust is concerned, there is no trust without consequences.

The policy infrastructure is the realm within which policy definitions can be made that will subsequently constrain the use of the mechanisms and processes through which policy is administered. Also, contained within the policy infrastructure is the policy registry which is a formal specification of the policies that govern any transaction, including the specification of negotiable characteristics of transactions. Throughout the policy infrastructure are found transaction points at which policy specific processes can be applied. Two of the critical processes always provided within a policy infrastructure are authentication and authorization operations. Both of the processes in turn depend on the seminal process of enrollment. A transaction point is a locus of the processes that are provided by a policy infrastructure through which an exchange between two entities can occur. A transaction point is bounded by the spatial and temporal locations of the specific processes that it incorporates. These locations may further characterize the specific policies applicable to a specific transaction. A transaction point includes a portal through which access to content can be gained. Content is the general concept that we discussed in Chapter 6. It might be an end point in itself, in the form of goods and services, or it might comprise access to a second transaction point through which multi-point transactions can be conducted. Access to a portal is guarded by a sentinel, which is an entity identifiably distinct from a portal, but generally viewed as a facet of a portal.

A supplicant is an entity that seeks access to the content guarded by a portal. In the most basic form of a transaction, a supplicant will approach a sentinel and enter into an authentication protocol with it. We characterize the general definition of a transaction as the ability of a supplicant to access the content available through a portal, as limited according to the policies defined for that content. Applications of the application registry define subsequent interactions. A transaction can succeed, fail or abort. A successful transaction entails subsequent access to content according to the policy provisions of the transaction. A failed transaction entails a denial of access to content due to a failure to meet the necessary policy provisions. An aborted transaction entails an abrogation of the policy provisions of the transactions. An aborted transaction will engage the facilities of the consequences system of the trust infrastructure.

So, we suggest that a social ecosystem is comprised of at least the following general components:

1.        Trust Infrastructure - an evaluation system based on identification, edicts, rituals, whose purpose is to assess the integrity of entities and processes.

a.        Covenant – unconditional covenant and conditional compact based on seminal edicts.

b.       Rituals - implementation of the trust infrastructure, including consequences to policy violations.

c.        Registry - a compilation of identity markers.

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