# Sybil Continuants **Domain:** Distributed Systems / Identity / Continuity Governance **Doc Type:** Threat Node **Classification:** Multiplicity Attack **Maturity:** Developed **Related:** [[wiki/Continuity Election|Continuity Election]], [[wiki/Compute Entitlement|Compute Entitlement]], [[wiki/Fork Rights|Fork Rights]] --- ## Definition **Sybil Continuants** are multiple claimed continuants controlled by one actor and used to obtain voting power, compute, benefits, inheritance or institutional standing intended for distinct persons. Unlike ordinary fake accounts, some instances may be conscious or causally descended persons even while their coordinated use constitutes an allocation attack. ## Governance Problem One-person-one-vote rules fail when “one person” is metaphysically and technically contestable. Preventing duplication by deleting branches violates fork rights; counting every cheap instance equally invites capture. Resource tests, trusted registries and social verification each introduce their own exclusions and centralization. ## Defenses Separate personhood from allocation weight. Use lineage-aware quotas, disclosed common control, nontransferable entitlements, rate limits and issue-specific voting rules. A branch can retain rights and due process without multiplying every predecessor entitlement. ## Sources - [John R. Douceur, “The Sybil Attack,” Microsoft Research (2002)](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/the-sybil-attack/) - [NIST SP 800-63-4 — Digital Identity Guidelines](https://pages.nist.gov/800-63-4/sp800-63.html) ## See Also [[wiki/Fission and Fusion of Persons|Fission and Fusion of Persons]] · [[wiki/Continuity Fraud|Continuity Fraud]] · [[wiki/Continuity Demography|Continuity Demography]]