The source code of the world wide web (WWW), which a few weeks ago was auctioned by the father of the modern internet Sir Tim Berners-Lee, was sold for USD 5.4 million.
The sale is done in the form of non-traffickable tokens (NFT), and the proceeds will be donated to charity.
Berners-Lee created the source code more than 30 years ago. There are about 10 thousand lines of code for auction, including the web elements that are widely used today, such as HTML, HTTP, and so on.
The auction, run by Sotheby's, will contain not only the code for the World Wide Web, but also a letter from Berners-Lee, a vector file that can be printed into a poster, and a 30-minute video showing the code being typed.
Berners-Lee chose to sell his invention as an NFT because it was considered compatible with his code. He says NFTs are the latest exciting invention on the internet and an ideal way to unpack the origins behind the web.
Berners-Lee's decision to sell the source code of the World Wide Web was surprising. Because, since it was created in 1989, Berners-Lee never took advantage of his invention.
Berners-Lee never patented his invention and did not charge anyone who wanted to use his invention. CERN, where he worked at the time, relinquished all rights to the technology and put it into the open domain in 1993.
By comparison, by far the most expensive item sold in NFT form was a piece of art titled Everydays: the First 5000 Days by Beeple, which sold for $69 million. There was also the first tweet from Twitter boss Jack Dorsey that sold for almost $3 million.
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