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Data sharing - Subscription ​

Subscription agreements are one of the options for distributing a collection owner's protected data. Similar to the rental distribution terms, a subscription agreement has the following attributes:

Subscription Price

The collection owner allows a subscriber to pay a set price to access the data. The subscription fee is a one-time payment, not a recurring one. Subscriptions do not auto-renew.

Subscription Duration

The collection owner allows the subscriber access to the data for a set period of time.

The subscription bundle ​

Where subscriptions differ from rental distribution terms is that a subscription may cover more than one protected data. We use the term subscription bundle for this grouping of data. The Data Sharing smart contract supports various different methods for altering the contents of a subscription bundle. Once a user purchases a subscription to the bundle, they retain access to all protected data in the bundle until their subscription term expires. The owner may add new data to the bundle but may not remove protected data from the bundle as long as there remains at least one subscriber to it.

Subscriber protection ​

The Data Sharing smart contract ensures the subscriber maintains access for the duration of their subscription term. Once the subscription expires, the consumer loses access to all protected data. The subscriber has the option to pay the subscription fee again to retain access. The data owner may update the subscription fee and duration, but any data included in the subscription remains available. This assurance is critical to the subscription paradigm to ensure trust between the data owner and the subscriber.

Modifying subscription terms ​

The collection owner has a few options to manage their subscription bundles:

  • The owner may remove the subscription terms and effectively de-list the subscription bundle
  • The owner may modify the subscription price or duration
  • The owner may add additional protected data to the subscription
  • The owner may remove protected data from the subscription only if there are no active subscribers

Making any of these changes is effective immediately. For any existing subscribers, updates to the subscription terms take effect upon renewal of the subscription.