Guest Post – Anujith
Kodak, a 130-years old American company has announced the partnered with WENN Digital, to roll out their blockchain-based platform KodakOne, and their cryptocurrency KodakCoin. The announcement saw their stock price rise by 130%.
In the digital era, professional photographers find it increasingly hard to track where their work is being used without permission. KodakOne will be a global ledger of picture rights ownership, and the photographers can add their work into it, following which Kodak will manage the licensing process. The photographers will be paid by the users of their work, in KodakCoin.
KodakOne will be built on blockchain. Blockchain is a technology where a network of computers maintain a shared, verifiable, and permanent record of data. It is a distributed database comprised of two or more block records (referred to as “blocks”), which are linked together while adhering to a predetermined standard or protocol. Each node in a blockchain can be considered as a ledger, hence blockchain is also referred to as “Distributed Ledger Technology” (DLT). There is no centralized authority, rather, every node in the blockchain is a point of authority, and every node has the same version of information. By providing proof of work (POW), which is essentially evidence that a very significant amount of number-crunching work has taken place, and by getting consensus from the majority of the nodes in the network, a node can add a new block. This rigorous process reduces economic viability of hacking blockchain, hence, every information in blockchain is mathematically proven.
Photographers can register both new and old work in the system, consisting of an encrypted, digital global ledger of rights ownership for photographers. Immediately upon sale of their work in this secured system, they will get paid in KodakCoin. KodakOne will crawl the internet continuously to find unauthorized use of images registered in its ledger, and efficiently manage the post-licensing process to ensure that photographers are rewarded fairly for their work.
Additionally, Kodak plans to install rows of Bitcoin mining rigs at its headquarters in Rochester, NY, USA, to be rented to users. Bitcoins mined will be shared between the users and Kodak. This scheme will be known as KashMiner. Bitcoin mining is an energy-intensive operation, however, these rigs can take advantage of Kodak’s existing power generating plant which has excess capacity.
Founded in 1888 by George Eastman and Henry A Strong, and headquartered in Rochester, NY, USA, The Eastman Kodak Company or Kodak had held dominant position in photographic film for most of 20th century. Although they had developed a digital camera in 1975, they decided not to commercialize it, preferring to continue with their film heritage. When digital photography swept the market, Kodak had to see a long period of downturn in their business, filing for bankruptcy protection in 2012. Subsequently Kodak has licensed its brand to variety of manufacturers. KashMiner will be run by Spotlite USA, one such manufacturing company that has brand licensing agreement with Kodak. Kodak’s partner in this foray, WENN Digital, has deep expertise and experience in blockchain development.
The Initial Coin Offering (ICO) of KodakCoin will open on 31st January 2018, it will be a security token, and investors from US, UK, Canada and some more countries can participate.
