The founder of Internet Computer (ICP) and DFINITY, Dominic Williams has devised a bizarre plan to hasten the end of the Russian invasion of Ukraine through smart contracts and $250 million worth of cryptocurrency rewards.
DFINITY Internet Computer was launched in May 2021 and is a public blockchain and protocol that is trying to decentralize the Internet.
Williams’ proposal on Wednesday focuses on countering propaganda and informing the Russian population -who, he suggests, is generally “completely ignorant”- about the reality of what is really happening in Ukraine, which in turn will prompt them to put pressure on the government to stop the conflict.
“We should not have too much hope that sanctions alone will turn the Russian population against their leaders, for the simple reason that they control their media.in which they obediently pump out carefully crafted propaganda and false information,” Williams wrote.
The proposal suggests that Blockchain technology and smart contracts could enable large numbers of verified Russian citizens to watch war-related “news media” together at virtual reality parties dubbed “people parties:”
“Each attendee who proves their personhood using the people party system is then identified to smart contracts as an individual human being. The system prevents cheating, so that in each race, a person can only attend exactly once.”
“In this proposal, smart contracts would open a new cryptocurrency account for each successful attendee, which they can access and control using an internet identity,” the post adds..
To incentivize citizens, Williams proposes that cryptocurrency rewards could be used on assets like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). Every Russian citizen would have to watch until the end of the videos, as the pin numbers linked to their accounts would not be unlocked until all the content was consumed.
“The streaming video will tell the truth about the war in Ukraine and ask the Russians to put pressure on their government to cease hostilities. The best way to build such a video should be left to the talented filmmakers. An unwatermarked version should be available for download, allowing the recipient to show the video to others,” Williams wrote.
Willaims’ suggested $250 million sum is based on his recommendation to pay each participant $50 per video viewed.hoping to attract five million Russians to watch the informative videos.
The plan depends on many conditions being met. The most important is that the Internet stays online without interference from the Russian government to facilitate such a grandiose plan. Responses on Twitter highlighted that Moscow officials are apparently considering disconnecting the country from cyberspace..
“Moscow is prepared to disconnect the country from cyberspace. Though the authorities officially deny the initiative, leaked messages suggest that it will begin to roll out the strategy on the government’s websites this Friday”
I wonder how anyone will see the videos— Nicolas.icp (@ICbicycle) March 15, 2022
“Moscow is ready to disconnect the country from cyberspace. Although the authorities officially deny the initiative, leaked messages suggest that it will start rolling out the strategy on government websites this Friday”
I wonder what the videos will look like
Other Twitter users did not show themselves impressed with the ideasuch as “Omega.ic3”, which branded the move a PR stunt:
“There is no way this idea has a real chance of impacting public opinion in Russia. So it seems like a cheap PR stunt, ultimately trying to capitalize on the situation by jumping on the bandwagon of popular opinion and increasing visibility.”
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