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This is a use case that public blockchains could solve for us. Having a decentralized proof of digital rights ownership on a public blockchain could separate t

This is a use case that public blockchains could solve for us. Having a decentralized proof of digital rights ownership on a public blockchain could separate the content provider (Amazon / Google / EA) from the actual media they provide by storing it on IPFS or some other decentralized file store. There would need to be a lot of work done to make this happen and big companies would have to get on board. It doesn't seem likely now, but it might happen with enough pressure or the right disruptive catalyst.

Arrath 4y ago
I just consider myself the owner of the content once I have paid for it, regardless of platform. I also consider that as meaning I have carte blanche to gain possession of that content however I see fit, since I have paid for it. Torrents and cracks to the rescue, no need for blockchain technobabble.
halestock 4y ago
> big companies would have to get on board Will never happen.
nvrspyx 4y ago
Or we could just go back to license keys as proof of ownership. Blockchain doesn't really add anything but complexity here.
idiotsecant 4y ago
this seems like an awfully complicated alternative to just letting you download a file.
BoiledCabbage 4y ago
So time to play the same old game: does block chain provide any value here that a separate centralized DB doesn't? Let's see, can't you solve the exact same problem by simply having a centralized organization have a database of digital content ownership? Essentially a title record DB? Seems like it. And how does your blockchain solution solve the problem of someone is hacking the game and needs to be banned? Can the EA ban them or do hackers get to stay for good because it's on the blockchain? And if EA can ban them at their discretion then how did the block chain solve anything here? And so yet again someone appears to have thrown out "blockchain" when it provides zero value at all towards a solution. Please anytime anyone proposes blockchain, please explain how it is in any way better than a separate centralized DB in your proposed use case.
- teux 4y ago
  Disclaimer: this is not my domain. But wouldn’t the blockchain give a decentralised record of ownership that was protected from corruption? If a single entity owns this database, how does it fare against attacks/bad actors, or highly capitalists companies like EA going in and editing it in their best interests. You need a truly good organisation to host that single DB and I’m not sure I tryst any of them at the moment. (Also thought I have a cursory knowledge of blockchain technology, so please correct me if I’m off.)
  - jonathanyc 4y ago
    After the Ethereum DAO exploit, the result was two blockchains: Ethereum Classic and Ethereum. Was that better protection against database manipulation than the existing legal system provides?
    - mattdesl 4y ago
      Yes, it’s much more democratic than the status quo in traditional online payment and digital asset systems. Users forked and had the choice to follow the DAO-revert chain. Another hard fork happened recently: PoS. There is still a PoW chain, for the small minority that wants to use it.
  - kmonsen 4y ago
    The issue is that you need to talk to EA servers to play the game, or whatever the movie is hosted etc, and at that time they can choose to accept whatever token you have. Or they can reject it. So unless the content is also decentralized you are not better off. Easy example is that nft tokens are decentralized, but the servers hosting the actual pictures are not. So you own the token but the picture itself can go missing.
    - mattdesl 4y ago
      Not the case with an on-chain game! See Dark Forest. Also not really the case with on-chain NFTs or those hosted by IPFS (where as long as 1 user has the file on disk it can be recovered and re-seeded).
thrashh 4y ago
IPFS is an open network. Putting it on there would be like putting it on a public FTP server, which would be way simpler Your solution is equivalent to letting customers download their game installer after logging in and giving them a license key to unlock with, something we already can do, except your idea includes 10,000 more steps
- vineyardmike 4y ago
  > IPFS is an open network. Putting it on there would be like putting it on a public FTP server, which would be way simpler Not that I agree this is a good idea but IPFS decentralizes storage and provision of the content. A centralized server means the company can still arbitrarily block you.
  - soco 4y ago
    The companies will block you usually by deactivating your license key - which you always have to check online with their licensing server.
cwmma 4y ago
The hard part isn't the prove who owns what, it's coordinating with the actual providers to have them all agree to the same database and actually honor it

Arrath 4y ago

I just consider myself the owner of the content once I have paid for it, regardless of platform. I also consider that as meaning I have carte blanche to gain possession of that content however I see fit, since I have paid for it. Torrents and cracks to the rescue, no need for blockchain technobabble.

halestock 4y ago

> big companies would have to get on board Will never happen.

nvrspyx 4y ago

Or we could just go back to license keys as proof of ownership. Blockchain doesn't really add anything but complexity here.

idiotsecant 4y ago

this seems like an awfully complicated alternative to just letting you download a file.

BoiledCabbage 4y ago

So time to play the same old game: does block chain provide any value here that a separate centralized DB doesn't? Let's see, can't you solve the exact same problem by simply having a centralized organization have a database of digital content ownership? Essentially a title record DB? Seems like it. And how does your blockchain solution solve the problem of someone is hacking the game and needs to be banned? Can the EA ban them or do hackers get to stay for good because it's on the blockchain? And if EA can ban them at their discretion then how did the block chain solve anything here? And so yet again someone appears to have thrown out "blockchain" when it provides zero value at all towards a solution. Please anytime anyone proposes blockchain, please explain how it is in any way better than a separate centralized DB in your proposed use case.

teux 4y ago
Disclaimer: this is not my domain. But wouldn’t the blockchain give a decentralised record of ownership that was protected from corruption? If a single entity owns this database, how does it fare against attacks/bad actors, or highly capitalists companies like EA going in and editing it in their best interests. You need a truly good organisation to host that single DB and I’m not sure I tryst any of them at the moment. (Also thought I have a cursory knowledge of blockchain technology, so please correct me if I’m off.)
- jonathanyc 4y ago
  After the Ethereum DAO exploit, the result was two blockchains: Ethereum Classic and Ethereum. Was that better protection against database manipulation than the existing legal system provides?
  - mattdesl 4y ago
    Yes, it’s much more democratic than the status quo in traditional online payment and digital asset systems. Users forked and had the choice to follow the DAO-revert chain. Another hard fork happened recently: PoS. There is still a PoW chain, for the small minority that wants to use it.
- kmonsen 4y ago
  The issue is that you need to talk to EA servers to play the game, or whatever the movie is hosted etc, and at that time they can choose to accept whatever token you have. Or they can reject it. So unless the content is also decentralized you are not better off. Easy example is that nft tokens are decentralized, but the servers hosting the actual pictures are not. So you own the token but the picture itself can go missing.
  - mattdesl 4y ago
    Not the case with an on-chain game! See Dark Forest. Also not really the case with on-chain NFTs or those hosted by IPFS (where as long as 1 user has the file on disk it can be recovered and re-seeded).

thrashh 4y ago

IPFS is an open network. Putting it on there would be like putting it on a public FTP server, which would be way simpler Your solution is equivalent to letting customers download their game installer after logging in and giving them a license key to unlock with, something we already can do, except your idea includes 10,000 more steps

vineyardmike 4y ago
> IPFS is an open network. Putting it on there would be like putting it on a public FTP server, which would be way simpler Not that I agree this is a good idea but IPFS decentralizes storage and provision of the content. A centralized server means the company can still arbitrarily block you.
- soco 4y ago
  The companies will block you usually by deactivating your license key - which you always have to check online with their licensing server.

cwmma 4y ago

The hard part isn't the prove who owns what, it's coordinating with the actual providers to have them all agree to the same database and actually honor it