To have a safe and functional internet, we need platforms to take real responsibility for stemming crime. That shouldn’t be a controversial statement in 2022, especially in the face of the pile-up of illegal and nefarious activities they facilitate.
Since 2017, OpenSea has hosted a cryptocurrency marketplace for Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), unique identifiers for digital objects. Although these technologies are new and, to many of us, baffling, OpenSea’s story will sound familiar to creatives who have watched platforms like YouTube and Facebook profit from stolen content.
On 23rd February, 2022, the Advertising Standards Council of India (“ASCI”) has issued guidelines for the advertisements of virtual digital assets and services. These guidelines shall be applicable to all advertisements released or published on or after 1st April, 2022. The advertisers shall have to ensure that even the earlier advertisements comply with these regulations post 15th April, 2022. Read the guidelines here.
David Newhoff, writer and copyright advocate examines the risk to artists intellectual property rights posed by the trade of NFTs, such as crypto group Spice DAO’s purchase of a rare copy of Frank Herbert’s Dune for €2.66 million. The group announced on January 15, its intent to make the work publicly available through numerous derivative works including NFTs, despite no rights purchases being included in their deal.