World Wide Web Source Code is Latest NFT for Sale

Tim Berners-Lee’s code for the World Wide Web is being sold as an NFT by Sotheby’s. (AFP)
Tim Berners-Lee’s code for the World Wide Web is being sold as an NFT by Sotheby’s. (AFP)
TT

World Wide Web Source Code is Latest NFT for Sale

Tim Berners-Lee’s code for the World Wide Web is being sold as an NFT by Sotheby’s. (AFP)
Tim Berners-Lee’s code for the World Wide Web is being sold as an NFT by Sotheby’s. (AFP)

Tim Berners-Lee’s source code for the World Wide Web is the latest non-fungible token (NFT) to go up for sale.

Sotheby’s in New York is selling the program that paved the way for the internet we know today more than 30 years after its creation.

The sale started June 23 and ends on Wednesday. Bidding had reached $2.8 million on Friday.

The lot includes an animated version of Berners-Lee’s nearly 10,000 lines of code and a letter from the British-born computer scientist himself.

“Ten years ago, we wouldn’t have been able to do this,” said Cassandra Hatton, vice-president at Sotheby’s, referring to the recent boom in NFTs.

Hatton said this work is unique because of its importance for the creation of the World Wide Web.

“That changed every aspect of your life,” Hatton said. “We don’t even fully comprehend the impact that it has on our lives, and the impact that we will continue to have on our lives.”

An NFT is a digital object such as a drawing, animation, piece of music, photo or video with a certificate of authenticity created by blockchain technology that underlies cryptocurrency. It cannot be forged or otherwise manipulated.

NFTs currently generate several hundred million dollars in transactions every month.

NFT exchanges take place in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin on specialist sites but traditional auction houses are seeking to capitalize on the phenomenon.

The most expensive NFT ever was sold by Christie’s in March for $69.3 million.



Apple and Google Face UK Investigation into Mobile Browser Dominance

The logo of Google LLC is shown at an entrance to one of their buildings in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake
The logo of Google LLC is shown at an entrance to one of their buildings in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake
TT

Apple and Google Face UK Investigation into Mobile Browser Dominance

The logo of Google LLC is shown at an entrance to one of their buildings in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake
The logo of Google LLC is shown at an entrance to one of their buildings in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake

Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new UK digital rules taking effect next year.

The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said, The AP reported.

“This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices,” the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on “mobile ecosystems.”

The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers “the clearest or easiest option.”

And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two US Big Tech companies “significantly reduces their financial incentives” to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.

Both companies said they will “engage constructively” with the CMA.

Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.

Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system “has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's “committed to open platforms that empower consumers.”

It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the dominance of Big Tech companies. US federal prosecutors this week unveiled their proposals to force Google to sell off its Chrome browser as they target its monopoly in online search.

The CMA's final report is due by March. The watchdog indicated it would recommend using the UK's new digital competition rulebook set to take effect next year, which includes new powers to rein in tech companies, to prioritize further investigation into Apple’s and Google’s “activities in mobile ecosystems."