by 0xaca8fbbdddfce169114f344d8ee739bde665f4f4 (MetaArchs#f4f4)
Should the following Tier 4: up to $60,000 USD, 6 months vesting (1 month cliff) grant in the Community category be approved?
Abstract
This project will bring The Uncensored Library into Decentraland, which can potentially make waves in showcasing the social utility a Metaverse space such a Decentraland can bring to the market.
The Uncensored Library in DCL will serve as a beacon of hope for anyone who wants to advocate for freedom of the press and will encourage a sense of social support, which movements of this nature require to thrive.
Through a united effort between Reporters without Borders, DDB Berlin, Metaverse Architects, The Metaverse Group, Tokens.com, BlockWorks, and Media.Monks, this project will continue to support the freedom of the press by broadening its horizons and expanding its utility into Decentraland.
Grant size
60,000 USD
Beneficiary address
0x0b4F599237229f235aE10b1b7dE5b74165CBDbDe
Description
Introduction:
To combat censorship in countries with little or no freedom of the press, Reporters without Borders released The Uncensored Library in Minecraft, which took the gaming world by storm.
Contained within this library are articles and books containing crucial information and reliable journalism published by reporters who face imprisonment, exile, or death. The purpose of The Uncensored Library is to deliver information to the public, avoiding suppression by governmental systems.
Already a globally renowned project which empowered over 25 million people; the recreation of the Uncensored Libraryā in Decentraland is being seen as the next logical step in the projectās maturity. In making the Uncensored Library accessible in the metaverse, Reporters Without Borders will be able to actively lower the barriers to entry for censored citizens to access politically critical information, whilst further empowering censored journalists by widening their potential audience.
Information about the Project:
Since its creation, The Uncensored Library has reported a media reach of 2.7 Billion and has established itself as a grassroots movement that benefits citizens across the globe, all with a media budget of ā¬0.
Overall, The Uncensored Library has reached more than 25 million gamers from 165 different countries, many of them suffering from censorship (including all target countries). As of 2021, the project had amassed over 17 years of accumulative playing time from individual players who spent countless hours inside the library reading politically censored books and articles by independent investigative journalists.
Why should we build this in Decentraland?
As outlined in Decentralandās Code of Ethics, DCL strives to be a safe space for internet users, where all operations and transactions in Decentraland are rooted in a standard conduct of honesty, integrity, and openness, with a rigid desire to respect the human rights and interests of all involved parties in the space.
The Uncensored Library is a project which aims to fight against centralized authoritarian entities which actively disregard the rights, freedoms, and opinions of their citizens. The work done by Reporters Without Borders in the fight for truth and transparency in countries riddled by corruption and inequalities is admirable, and Web 3.0 can offer such organizations with new solutions in the fight against human rights violations.
One of the founding principles and solutions brought by Web 3.0 is the effective fight against corrupt, untransparent centralized authorities, and bringing the ādigital home of press freedomā to Decentraland is a smart way of signaling to the world that the Metaverse is so much more than just a place for celebrities to host concerts or for brands to sell NFTs.
Press Mentions:
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/13/tech/minecraft-uncensored-library-scli-intl/index.html
Specification
To begin this project, Metaverse Architects began bringing all the different stakeholders required to make this project a reality together. After extensive meetings, a way forward was agreed regarding how to branch this project into Decentraland, whilst securing a property of its deployment, and a means to replicate the experience in DCL.
One key part of this project is to ensure there is no expense on an NGO such as Reporters Without Borders, however, this grant is not just a means of ensuring the whole project can kick-off, but also an opportunity for the community to highlight what we stand for, whilst promoting our grant schemes with the large amount of Press that will catch up on this project.
Metaverse Architects shall be leading the bulk of the development, where we shall repurpose BlockWorkās Minecraft design for it to work in Decentraland. This would require an ideation phase, where the build must be tweaked to work in DCL.
You can find the current Minecraft design here:
Once the architecture is complete, another key part of the project, which would require some time to complete, is the migration of the entire digital collection of articles and books found in The Uncensored Library. Moreover, we would have to design a means to be able to access these articles and books in an easy-to-use and easy-to-read UI, which shall be another key part of the development.
Finally, the marketing stage of the project shall be coupled with deployment. This will be a crucial part of the project, as we want to ensure we bring as many eyes on Decentraland as possible with this build.
To do this, we will organize a launch event with Reporters Without Borders, which will have a multitude of different speakers on different topics, such as press freedom, cyber warfare, decentralization, and the overall impact of Web 3.0. This event will also bring a considerable amount of press awareness due to the partners involved. One key aspect of this event can also be the potential impact of DAOs on society, with the aim being to raise more awareness on the Decentraland DAO as a tech case study, highlighting how it decentralizes decision-making and empowers DCL users to fund projects and movements they believe in.
Personnel
This momentous undertaking is a collaborative effort between:
- Reporters without Borders
- DDB Berlin
- Metaverse Architects
- Metaverse Group
- Tokens.com
- BlockWorks
- Media.Monks
Each organization contributes crucial elements to the project.
More info:
Reporters without Borders promote and defend the freedom to be informed and to inform others throughout the world.
Doyle Dane Bernbach Berlin (DDB) is a leading advertising firm dedicated to supporting The Uncensored Libraryās mission.
Metaverse Architects are an innovative design and event planning firm, specializing in 3D modeling and game development across multiple metaverses. Their in-house team will recreate The Uncensored Library in DCL.
The Metaverse Group are leaders in real estate acquisition, real estate development and property management. Backed by Tokens.com, they boast a robust portfolio of virtual real estate in every major block-chain based metaverse.
BlockWorks is an acclaimed design studio and consultancy firm. Their original design for The Uncensored Library Minecraft build will be replicated in DCL.
Media.Monks is a disruptive digital production company whose efforts will help drive public awareness of press censorship on behalf of The Uncensored Library.
Roadmap and milestones
The Uncensored Library will be a multi-stage development that will follow a 6 month timeline, broken into three key stages.
The first stage, encompassing a maximum of the first two months, shall be the ideation phase, which will include:
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The repurposing of designs from Minecraft into Decentraland,
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The planning of the space, and overall ideation of the library space,
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The active ideation phase for the utility behind the library, which will also include the potential ideation of the digital infrastructure required for building NFT-funding projects for censored journalists
The second stage is the development phase, which is projected to take a maximum of three months, and shall include:
- The development of the library, which shall include a fully-fledged Uncensored Library built for the Decentraland space,
- The transferring of data and information from the Minecraft space into the Decentraland space,
- The development of a seamless experience for citizens to access censored data in Decentraland, which will act as an empowering tool for citizens with limited access to rights.
The third stage of the project is the deployment phase, which is projected to take one month, and shall include:
- The marketing of the project on leading press sites,
- The deployment of the property,
- An event, with reporters without borders, for the library launch.
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