Zach Burks, CEO, and founder of Mintable, has raised concerns over the United Kingdom’s approach to regulating nonfungible tokens (NFTs), suggesting that it may not be well-suited to the nature of this emerging technology.
Burks expressed his reservations in an interview with Cointelegraph, emphasizing that a recent report from a UK parliamentary committee appears to exaggerate NFTs’ involvement in copyright infringement and fails to recognize their multifaceted utility beyond digital artwork.
“NFTs are in a transition phase where they’re moving away from the speculative boom of PFPs (Profile Picture Projects), and now it’s going into utilities of brands implementing NFTs across a whole range of different things,” Burks explained.
Burks acknowledged the importance of copyright protections and intellectual property rights for artists, pointing out Mintable’s own IP protection algorithm to combat plagiarism. However, he stressed that these issues are not unique to NFTs but rather are inherent problems of the internet itself.
The Mintable CEO drew a comparison to other platforms like WordPress, YouTube, and Spotify, which also grapple with copyright-related challenges. Burks noted that industry giants like Google are working tirelessly to address these issues, yet the problem persists.
According to Burks, NFTs have a broad range of applications, from managing car and property records to serving as a banking settlement document, supply chain tool, or biofuels platform. They are not limited to being artwork or financial instruments; an NFT can serve as a comprehensive digital entity.
Burks believes that categorizing NFTs as digital art and regulating them accordingly could hinder the true potential and versatility of the technology. He expressed concerns about the UK government considering the implementation of the EU 17 copyright directive on NFTs, which he perceives as overly broad and generic.
In contrast, Burks pointed out that regulators in Singapore assess NFTs based on their specific use cases, enabling a more tailored and nuanced approach to regulation. By understanding what an NFT represents and its function, regulators in Singapore adapt their oversight accordingly, addressing each use case individually.
In conclusion, Burks emphasized the importance of recognizing the diverse capabilities of NFTs and avoiding broad, overarching regulatory frameworks that might not be suitable for this dynamic technology. He recommended that regulators take a more granular approach, just as they do in Singapore, to ensure effective regulation that considers the unique characteristics of each NFT.
