NFT Season Still On, World Wide Web Source Code Sells USD 5.4 Million

WWW source code in NFT (TechXplore)

JAKARTA - In the midst of hot cryptocurrency news, the influence of NFT is still strong. Recently, the source code of the World Wide Web, which was auctioned by its inventors, Sir Tim and Lady Berners-Lee, sold for 5,434,500 USD at a Sotheby's auction.

A fairly large value. And the upgrade is also fantastic from the first offering. It is known that this source code was first exhibited on June 23 with a value of 1,000 USD.

According to Sotheby's statement, via Mashable, the proceeds from the auction will be used for social actions that are being carried out by Sir Tim and Lady Berners Lee.

“This NFT bidding process to auction gave me the opportunity to look back in time when I first sat down to write this code 30 years ago, and reflect on how far the web has come since then,” Berners-Lee said in a statement released. Sotheby's.

Auction house Sotheby's also said that the NFT sold by Berners-Lee consisted of four parts. Original file with timestamp written directly by Sir Tim, animated visualization of the code, Sir Tim's written letter explaining the code and the manufacturing process

"As well as a digital poster of Sir Tim's source code from files in Python including a graphic of the physical signature," wrote auction house Sotheby's.

The value of 5.4 million US dollars is indeed quite large. But, not yet worth the most expensive NFT ever sold. And that title is still held by the artist Beeple, who managed to sell his painting for $69 million at Christie's auction house in March.

Triggering Controversy

In addition, the programming code that created the World Wide Web was first written in 1990 and 1991. Sir Tim's 9,555 lines of code will be accessible via links codified in NFT format.

However, who would have thought if the decision invites controversy. Many people question whether this sale will make the WWW no longer free, considering that the original code has been sold and owned by individuals.

In response to the controversy, Sir Tim replied calmly. Citing The Guardian, the creator of the WWW said that his decision to sell the source code was still in line with the values of the WWW.

“The questions I get, they say: 'Oh, it doesn't look like a free and open web.' Well, wait a minute, the web remains free and open as usual. The core code and protocols on the web are royalty free, as they used to be. I don't sell websites, you don't have to pay money to open links," said Berners-Lee.

Berners-Lee also stated that he did not really sell the source code – as many media reported. What he sells is his drawing, a program in Python he wrote himself – which he draws on the source code on the wall and signs.