Sucker filter = DAO
Some tech types are pushing a peculiar deal that possibly crosses the line into fraud. One of the few remaining copies of the original printing of the Constitution is up for sale. The techies are putting together a Bitcoin thingamajig that will purchase this copy and then give it to a museum, or build a museum, or burn it, or eat it, or pretty much anything you can think of.

What do you get for your donation? Nothing except the pleasure of knowing that a document, which you will never see or touch, is being transferred to someplace that might or might not be the same place it would have gone if it hadn't been purchased by the Bitcoin thingy.

There's nothing wrong with gathering donations for a specifically named gift. Keeping an important artwork in public view is a worthy goal for people who appreciate the artwork. Many people support museums in this way, without ever visiting the museum.

The potential fraud arises with the Bitcoin NFT shit, which is of course a total fraud from the getgo. This group is claiming that the donators will be able to help control the destination of the document, or maybe not. The donators may be able to choose a director who will make the decision, except that the structure of the NFT excludes a director and doesn't provide a "voting" mechanism.

"Decentralized control" is another name for dictatorship. Ultimately SOMEBODY will have to decide where to put the document, and there's no assurance that your "vote" will make a difference. A museum won't accept a donation from a vague "decentralized collective" that might randomly decide to take back the document. Museums are properly fussy about provenance and chain of possession.

The organizers are free to sell the document to a private collector for a profit, which is the most likely actual outcome.

I think DAO is a modern retread of the "artist rights" movement that started and fizzled in the '70s. Some artists tried to maintain full possession of everything they sold, considering a sale to be more like a rental. The artists tried to control how the work could be used and displayed. Very few collectors and museums want to buy artworks with no control. They do sometimes borrow artworks or collectibles, with an explicit term-limited lease arrangement, but they won't "purchase" without control.

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Later: Happened to notice that the auction is live right now, so I'm watching it. Auctions are always fascinating. The alleged million-dollar "artworks" are vastly less competent than anything I see in low-cost places like Etsy.

ONLY ONE THING MATTERS IN THIS PICTURE. NYC IS DONE WITH MUZZLES. THE AUCTION IS A CROWDED ROOM IN NYC. ONLY ABOUT 10% OF THE AUDIENCE IS MUZZLED. THEY'RE SHOWING A 'SATELLITE' ROOM IN LONDON, WHICH IS ALSO BREATHING. WHY THE FUCK CAN'T WE BE ALLOWED TO BREATHE? GODS, GET YOUR FUCKING ASSES IN GEAR. IF NYC AND LONDON CAN BREATHE, WHY CAN'T WE BREATHE?

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Next day: The DAO didn't win the bidding. They announced in advance that they had raised $40 million, so the other bidders knew in advance that the price of the item was $41 million. It wasn't really an auction. The 'organization' says it will now refund all the contributions, and will go on to bigger and better Sucker Filters.

What was the purpose? Was the DAO sponsored by an enemy of the winning bidder, in order to make him spend more money than he would otherwise? That's a common tactic at auctions.

Labels: endless hell, Jackboot stomping forever, Sucker Filter

  ¶ 2:46 PM