Cover for The Content Layer

The Content Layer

A Constitutional Upgrade to the Browser Start Page

Browsers are the world's most universal software, yet their first mile remains blank. The Content Layer proposes a constitutional upgrade: replacing the empty browser start page with user-chosen premium dashboards like Netflix, Xbox, Disney, Civics and routing a small, ring-fenced revenue skim into a Defense Fund for the Open Web. The model converts wasted real estate into a recurring civic dividend, establishing predictable funding for digital infrastructure while preserving market competition and user choice.

GovernanceDigital InfrastructurePublic Utility DesignCivic Technology
Published: October 13, 2025
Updated: February 1, 2026
DOIRead Whitepaper

The Approach

Scott Jellen is an independent researcher focused on protocol design, rights modeling, and interoperability across digital and public systems. His flagship work, the Universal Sports Graph (USG), defines a neutral infrastructure layer for representing sports rights through published RFCs and a versioned reference registry. Additional briefs and whitepapers explore how incentive clarity and structural design shape scalable institutions.

© 2026 Scott Jellen. Licensing varies by publication.