Show HN: Use NFTs to unlock access to videos, downloads, or blogs | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Use NFTs to unlock access to videos, downloads, or blogs

mintgate.app

6 pointsjadbox4 comments

Why are NFTs a better way to handle this (from the perspective of the content creator) than traditional, centralized DRM?

There's a lot of different answers to this, but the simplest one answer is that access pass (the token) becomes something that can be easily traded on any kind of crypto market. You could even trustlessly lend your token to someone to access content and effectively earn rent. It's a whole new way to engage with content when the access itself is a tradable limited resource.

OK, a few follow-up questions;

1. Why would a content creator want to create something that is easily traded?

2. As a buyer, how do I know the token works before I buy it? Can't someone just remove its access to the content after I buy it? The content is not on-chain, so it's still centralized somewhere.

3. If I can rent/sell the access to make a profit, wouldn't it make more sense for me to just make a DRM-free copy and sell that at the same price multiple times instead of once?

I guess I want to know a specific use-case that blockchain enables in this context. So far it sounds exactly like DRM that has a different transfer mechanism.

> access itself is a tradable limited resource

This is not (and never has been) technologically possible[1], and NFTs don't change that fact.

1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_hole

Appreciate the thoughtful questions!

1. This is one of my favorite things about the platform we're building. Creators want to encourage their audience to sell their tokens on (almost) any NFT marketplace, because they get royalties(!) whenever their token is sold. This system we're helping to explore along with our token contract researchers :)

2. That's a good question that I don't have a perfect answer for. You could observe the community to see reports of other people using the access token. I suppose it's the same problem that most online markets have anyways (try before buying).

3. This is a complex question. Technically, just like DRM, you can always make a copy of some data. However in practice, you just have to look at the rising market of 'art NFTs' to see that there's a real tangible value to a creator's audience that they are the ones issuing the access.

Hope this helps a little- and let me know if I can further clarify. If you'd like to chat in person about this, send me a DM on twitter: @jadbox

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