Kim Dotcom, the controversial web entrepreneur and founding father of the now-defunct file storage platform Megaupload, is making a comeback within the digital content material enterprise. This time, as a substitute of a platform that permits customers to obtain copyright songs and tv sequence, Dotcom plans to make use of blockchain know-how to create a good digital content material distribution market known as Ok.IM.
According to Ok.IM’s white paper, the proposed challenge is pitched as a dynamic ecosystem that’s “aimed to become the easiest and the most secure way to generate revenue with digital content.”
The challenge plans to facilitate client and writer transactions whereas slicing out the intermediary with the assistance of the Kimcoin. Bitfinex, the cryptocurrency alternate in partnership with Dotcom’s platform, has lately introduced the sale of the Ok.IM with the relaunch of its preliminary alternate providing (IEO) platform, Toikinex.
Project overview
The Ok.IM challenge has thus far raised over $2 million from traders and is deliberate to be absolutely operational by the third quarter of 2020, in response to the challenge’s street map. Ok.IM says it goals to refill a content material monetization hole in a market price over $400 billion.
According to the challenge’s white paper, the infiltration of a number of intermediaries within the digital content material enterprise has launched an incapacity to supply content material at ultra-low costs. With a enterprise mannequin that offers 95% of gross sales income to content material creators, the Ok.IM platform will intention to spice up monetization whereas attracting publishers to take part.
Some of the important thing options of the platform embrace content material pricing and entails the usage of a file encryption service. Users will have the ability to pay for content material with a spread of cryptocurrencies. However, solely Bitcoin (BTC) and Ok.IM shall be obtainable initially.
Ok.IM will function a utility coin that can enable customers to buy content material, donate or tip on the platform. The challenge’s street map additionally states that Ok.IM shall be issued within the final quarter of 2019, with a token sale on Bitfinex set to happen on Oct. 22.
While commenting on the challenge’s growth, Dotcom talked about that “combining the internet with Bitcoin gives a real chance of achieving the original promise of the internet,” defining that promise as freedom of speech, finance and commerce. He additionally added that his primary motivation for launching the platforms is to “cut out all the middlemen and sell content and digital goods without censorship.” In an e mail dialog, Kim Dotcom informed Cointelegraph:
“K.im will work on policies, designs, and technologies that attempt to address the many complex issues of international copyright compliance for user-generated content intermediary services and related risks.”
Dotcom additionally acknowledged that current technical breakthroughs corresponding to Bitcoin’s Lightning Network have enabled the creation of tokens corresponding to Ok.IM that may be supported on Bitcoin’s blockchain community.
Will Megaupload solid a darkish shadow on Ok.IM?
Far from the noble intentions of giving customers freedom and entry to digital items, Dotcom’s alleged repute of creating hundreds of thousands of {dollars} by permitting unlawful file sharing on Megaupload nonetheless casts a shadow on his new challenge.
For some, it’s a little shocking {that a} defunct platform whose founder has been locked in a authorized battle with the United States over copyright claims is now spearheading a challenge that can create a good marketplace for content material creators.
In response, Dotcom has replied that the know-how the challenge is constructed upon permits customers to promote their content material with out Ok.IM’s data of what content material they’re promoting. Therefore, content material publishers could have absolute management of their content material with encrypted file safety.
While speaking to Hard Fork, Dotcom additionally mentioned that the platform goals to “respect the rights of copyright owners by establishing policies in its terms of use.”
He informed Max Keiser from KeiserReport that the platform will implement a content material internet hosting platform with a “decentralized structure,” which could have an API that can allow customers so as to add their servers from anyplace throughout the globe. Dotcom additionally added that the platform will “allow users to report” something unlawful on the platforms as a group policing technique.
IEOs as the brand new ICOs
By definition, an IEO entails the partnership between a challenge and an alternate to promote the challenge’s tokens by means of the alternate. IEOs are touted as a much less dangerous different to preliminary coin choices (ICOs). While an ICO includes the promoting of a challenge’s tokens on to the customer, IEO tokens bear a vetting course of that offers purchasers extra confidence.
Also, initiatives corresponding to Ok.IM can outsource their advertising in addition to Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance to the alternate platform. This makes it straightforward for challenge managers to navigate by means of varied regulatory necessities.
For this motive, the Ok.IM challenge has partnered with Bitfinex in what Dotcom calls “the perfect partner to help distribute the KIM tokens.”
Given that 75% of IEO tokens have reportedly misplaced greater than 50% of their worth, how will Dotcom’s challenge differentiate its worth proposition for a profitable token sale? Dotcom informed Cointelegraph, “a token sale using Bitfinex was an easy choice.” He added,
“We want to distribute our token as widely as possible amongst the bitcoin community for first and early use of the platform.”
Exploring the area of interest
With the rise of censorship from current content material distribution platforms, there may be arguably a marketplace for a decentralized and impartial platform like Ok.IM that can improve going ahead. The Ok.IM ecosystem can revolutionize the digital content material business with improved monetization that advantages creators in addition to customers.
This can all be achieved whereas selling freedom of speech — that’s, if the challenge delivers the guarantees outlined in its white paper. Furthermore, Dotcom confirmed to Cointelegraph that:
“The token piggybacks off cutting edge open-source technology such as the Bitcoin lightning network and its future integration with liquid tokens. In a nutshell, the token aims to allow for fast, cheap and virtually free micropayments for artists and content creators through the K.im platform.”
Despite the noble intentions of the challenge and the selection to go the IEO method, sure drawbacks would possibly set off concern over the challenge’s success. For instance, Bitfinex has been hacked on a number of events. The first occasion in 2015 led to a lack of greater than 1,500 Bitcoins, and a yr later, almost 120,000 Bitcoins have been stolen from the alternate.
This yr, the alternate has been criticized over its affiliation with Tether in doable cover-up of over $850 million in misplaced crypto. In addition to Dotcom’s previous controversies, the authorized points related to Bitfinex may have an effect on Ok.IM’s success.
For now, nevertheless, it stays to be seen whether or not Ok.IM shall be profitable in delivering the promise of the web by means of the blockchain.
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