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+# Licensing, Versioning, and Attribution — Civicus
+
+This document explains how Civic Analyst reports are **licensed, authored, preserved, and attributed**.
+It is not bureaucratic overhead — it is the scaffolding of **credibility and permanence**.
+
+---
+
+## 1. License
+
+* Unless otherwise specified, all Civic Analyst reports are published under **Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)**.
+* This allows free reuse, adaptation, and republication, provided attribution is given.
+* Attribution must include:
+
+  * **Civicus** (the project).
+  * The **primary contributor(s)** (human).
+  * The **LLM model** name/version used in drafting.
+
+---
+
+## 2. Authorship & Pen Names
+
+* The **author** is the individual who produces and finalizes the report.
+* A **pen name** may be used, but credibility increases when tied to verifiable Internet identity.
+* RFC-standard aliases (e.g., `postmaster@domain.tld`, `webmaster@domain.tld`, `admin@domain.tld`) provide strong authentication:
+
+  * These addresses exist by Internet standards and cannot collide.
+  * Only the domain owner can use them.
+  * Example: publishing as `postmaster@civicus.us` anchors authorship to DNS control.
+
+---
+
+## 3. Domain Ownership & Web3 Bridging
+
+* DNS control is public, timestamped, and auditable.
+* Publishing under a domain alias ties authorship to a verifiable, non-colliding identity.
+* DNS may be bridged into Web3:
+
+  * Mapping to ENS, Handshake, or IPNS.
+  * Publishing **hash manifests** in DNS TXT records.
+  * Anchoring digests to blockchains for permanent notarization.
+
+This ensures Civic Analyst reports cannot be erased or silently replaced.
+
+---
+
+## 4. Preservation & Versioning
+
+* Use **semantic versioning** (e.g., v1.0.0 initial release).
+* Publish SHA-256 digests for every file.
+* Git repositories are not immutable:
+
+  * Repo owners can rewrite history.
+  * Only once pinned immutably (IPFS, Arweave, notarized hashes) does publication occur.
+* Drafts may evolve in Git, but publication = immutable pin.
+
+---
+
+## 5. Quoting & Source Material
+
+* Many online articles are paywalled, redacted, or later removed. The Civic Analyst cannot depend on permanence.
+* Therefore:
+
+  * Preserve **local immutable snapshots** (PDFs, hashes, CIDs).
+  * Quote only **short slices** (a phrase, headline, or single sentence).
+  * Tie every quote to:
+
+    * The canonical source (URL, publisher, date).
+    * The preserved local copy.
+    * The artifact hash.
+* This makes even minimal quoting credible, without breaching copyright.
+* The Analyst’s own work is CC BY 4.0, but quoted fragments remain under their original copyright.
+
+---
+
+## 6. First-Analyst Principle
+
+* The **first Civic Analyst** carries only the **minimal burden**:
+
+  * Produce a credible, good-faith, transparent initial analysis.
+  * Publish it immutably with clear authorship.
+* The first report sets the **floor of standards**, not the ceiling.
+* The burden then shifts:
+
+  * Future analysts strive for greater authenticity, detail, and precision.
+  * Iteration is the natural path of civic knowledge.
+* Once published, reports are **final artifacts**.
+
+  * No revisions.
+  * No silent edits.
+  * Only new reports by new analysts.
+
+---
+
+## 7. Conversation Preservation
+
+* Every report must include the **full human↔LLM transcript**.
+* Append it to `11_Appendix_Conversation.md`.
+* This transcript is part of the civic evidence, not an optional record.
+
+---
+
+## Closing Declaration
+
+Licensing, attribution, and preservation standards ensure that Civic Analyst reports are transparent, credible, and final.
+They will not be revised. Any future improvement must come from new analyses published by other Civic Analysts.
+
+---