Hypothes.is is an open-source

Open source

The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...

 software project that aims to collect comments about statements made in any web-accessible content, and filter

Collaborative filtering

Collaborative filtering is the process of filtering for information or patterns using techniques involving collaboration among multiple agents, viewpoints, data sources, etc. Applications of collaborative filtering typically involve very large data sets...

 and rank those comments to assess each statement's credibility.
It's been summarized as "a peer review layer for the entire Internet."

Concept

The project is to write software and establish a system which will allow annotation of web pages, using comments contributed by individuals and a reputation system for rating the comments. The plan is that the comments will be stored in the Internet Archive

Internet Archive

The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...

. Normal use is planned to be with a browser plug-in, and the plan is that links to specific comments will also be viewable without needing a plug-in.

People

The project is led by Dan Whaley, co-founder of one of the first online travel booking systems in 1995.
Its advisors include John Perry Barlow

John Perry Barlow

John Perry Barlow is an American poet and essayist, a retired Wyoming cattle rancher, and a cyberlibertarian political activist who has been associated with both the Democratic and Republican parties. He is also a former lyricist for the Grateful Dead and a founding member of the Electronic...

, Charles Bazerman

Charles Bazerman

Charles Bazerman is an American educator and scholar. He was born and raised in New York. He is one of the world's leading experts on writing and has contributed significantly to the establishment of writing as a research field...

, Philip Bourne

Philip Bourne

Philip Eric Bourne is a professor of pharmacology at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California, San Diego ....

 and Brewster Kahle

Brewster Kahle

Brewster Kahle is a computer engineer, internet entrepreneur, activist, and digital librarian.- Biography :Kahle graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science in computer science and engineering, where he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity. The...

.

Project

A Kickstarter

Kickstarter

Kickstarter is an online threshold pledge system for funding creative projects. Kickstarter has funded a diverse array of endeavors, ranging from indie film and music to journalism, solar energy technology and food-related projects.-Model:...

drive to raise $100,000 to fund a working prototype narrowly reached its goal on November 13, 2011.