Story places trust in the platforms built on them - who in turn try to place trust in users to be honest. Hence, a dispute mechanism was set up as a resort. But there’s difficulty settling disputes in such adversarial conditions. This is why The Forge uses web proofs to ensure the integrity/provenance of data in the first place.

Now, working with provable data might require extra trust in the system designed to use the proofs. And trusting a system to verify proofs that will be heavily relied upon is riskier than it seems. In the case of IP, the stakes are high. A single mistake could result in significant legal consequences or even financial losses.

Malicious actors could exploit the process by which the data from web proofs are verified and migrated on-chain to manipulate the system, trying to gain unfair advantage - e.g., the system designers themselves. However, this will render the use of web proofs in such a given system useless. This is where the AVS comes in.

By utilising the economic security of EigenLayer , anyone participating in running the network is incentivised to act rationally and will either be rewarded or slashed (for bad acting). With this, there’s a better trust model, ensuring that those trying to move their web2 IP to the Story ecosystem are kept protected.