Honest answer: it is a proposed architecture, not a ratified standard. Web4 is defined by LINKSPREED's own research, published openly so it can be examined and built upon.
What has been published: Two documents — Web4: A Seven-Layer Sovereign-Ownership Architecture for the Next Generation of the Internet, which sets out the argument and the layer model, and a companion technical report describing how the model is realized in practice. Both are at web4.one.
Academic and standards route: Both are available through an SSRN portal for citation and download, and both were submitted to IEEE. Submission is not the same as adoption, and this help center does not claim otherwise.
What already is standard underneath: The building blocks are established and community-reviewed rather than proprietary — Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) and Verifiable Credentials, both W3C standards, plus emerging protocols for how AI agents interact with tools and each other.
No blockchain required: Web4 follows Web3 in name but not in mechanism. There is no wallet, no ledger, no gas fee and no token.
Why the code is public: Web4 Lite and the UIID Cookbook are on GitHub at github.com/Web4-Organisation, so the ownership architecture can be checked rather than taken on trust.