The Ides Protocol

The Ides Protocol is our oldest and most significant offering. It predates our formalization as an organization. In fact, it is the reason we formalized as an organization.

On March 15, 44 BCE, 23 senators participated in what would become the most documented act of coordinated institutional vengeance in recorded history. The act itself was not disproportionate in the minds of those who conducted it — Caesar had, in their view, systematically dismantled the Republic. But the execution lacked ethical sourcing standards, bystander protections, a proportionality review, or any documented framework whatsoever. The consequences were, as history records, extensive and largely unintended.

The Ides Protocol was designed so that would never happen again. Coordinated institutional action — when warranted — conducted with the rigor it deserves.

When The Ides Protocol applies

• • Multiple grievants with a shared, documented wrong
• • Institutional-level subject (an organization, a policy, a structure — not solely an individual)
• • Coordinated response required across multiple channels
• • The matter is of legitimate public concern
• • All participants pass individual Proportionality Reviews

Our Standards for the Ides Protocol

The Ides Protocol has the most rigorous review process of any product we offer. Every participant is reviewed individually. The aggregate action is reviewed by our full Standards Committee. Bystander Impact Assessments are extensive. The engagement does not proceed until every criterion is satisfied.

We decline more Ides Protocol requests than any other product. This is not because the grievances are unfounded. It is because coordinated institutional action has a high bar for ethical sourcing, and we apply that bar consistently.