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I think the public blockchain is the only basis of a non-dystopian metaverse. With it, ownership over digital assets can transcend any specific proprietary plat

I think the public blockchain is the only basis of a non-dystopian metaverse. With it, ownership over digital assets can transcend any specific proprietary platform. For that to happen, a general consensus needs to emerge that the public blockchain is the canonical source of truth on ownership of works of arts, and a convention needs to be established where platforms respect blockchain-based claims and reserve for possessors of such claims exclusive use of the respective artwork. Without an open ownership system, people will be compelled by market forces to converge to using a single proprietary platform that can provide a consistent account and set of rules on claims to digital property, and this platform being mutable by the proprietor, will make that proprietor inordinately powerful in a way that disfigures the socioeconomic landscape to make it less functional.

hakfoo 5y ago
The assumption I don't like here is that we're still fixated on an ownership and scarcity model. As has been mentioned elsewhere in the thread, many of the most exciting experiences are the ones that don't bother playing ownership police. For every one person who says "Oh, everyone isn't celebrating and paying me because that widget is My Special Creation (R) (TM) (C) (GMbH), so I'll stop creating" there are a hundred who use that widget to make to build new and exciting things. Let him leave. The whole focus on intellectual property, and new IP-adjacent gimmicks like NFTs feels like a tragic Emperor's New Clothes skit. I'm waiting on the kid to point and say "bits aren't scarce" which causes the whole market bubble to come crashing down.
- CryptoPunk 5y ago
  Yes, that is a fair point. One thing I'd note on that subject is that the current market of blockchain-based NFTs does not usually come with copyright restrictions. You are allowed to use a copy of an NFTized jpg, but of course the person possessing the NFT can always cryptographically prove that they own the 'official' version, which confers prestige. The analog world corollary would be owning the original Mona Lisa, while others still have the freedom to create copies. The latter does not diminish the value of the former. So in some sense, right now with most NFTs, you get the best of both worlds: a way to compensate creators of artwork, by giving them a scarce resource representing their creation that will command market value, and the freedom to use the art others release as you want.

hakfoo 5y ago

The assumption I don't like here is that we're still fixated on an ownership and scarcity model. As has been mentioned elsewhere in the thread, many of the most exciting experiences are the ones that don't bother playing ownership police. For every one person who says "Oh, everyone isn't celebrating and paying me because that widget is My Special Creation (R) (TM) (C) (GMbH), so I'll stop creating" there are a hundred who use that widget to make to build new and exciting things. Let him leave. The whole focus on intellectual property, and new IP-adjacent gimmicks like NFTs feels like a tragic Emperor's New Clothes skit. I'm waiting on the kid to point and say "bits aren't scarce" which causes the whole market bubble to come crashing down.

CryptoPunk 5y ago
Yes, that is a fair point. One thing I'd note on that subject is that the current market of blockchain-based NFTs does not usually come with copyright restrictions. You are allowed to use a copy of an NFTized jpg, but of course the person possessing the NFT can always cryptographically prove that they own the 'official' version, which confers prestige. The analog world corollary would be owning the original Mona Lisa, while others still have the freedom to create copies. The latter does not diminish the value of the former. So in some sense, right now with most NFTs, you get the best of both worlds: a way to compensate creators of artwork, by giving them a scarce resource representing their creation that will command market value, and the freedom to use the art others release as you want.