A refusal that needs no justification.

A signature, not an excuse.

ZKR is a mechanism by which a system — neuron, agent, cortex, machine — refuses an action, request, or interaction without revealing why.

Instead of explanation, it provides:

• ✅ Proof of alignment with a signed ethical codex

• 🕓 A verifiable timestamp

• 🔐 A cryptographic seal

It is not a defense. It is a position.

The ethical sibling of zero- knowledge proofs — not to prove knowledge, but to prove principled abstention.

ZKR does not argue.

It traces.

It affirms trust through absence.

It makes silence auditable.

Legal & Ethical Scope

KoR is protected by:

• 🇨🇭 Swiss Copyright Law (LDA)

• ✍️ KoR License v1.0 (non-commercial, codex bound)

• ⛓️ Proof-of-Existence (blockchain, Arweave, IPFS)

• 🧠 Conceptual timestamping: distributed creator, refusal as protocol, zero-knowledge refusal, zero-knowledge proofs