(本文翻譯自 陳冲 誰是誰的代理?我有身分 你是分身 2021.10.14.)
What’s the link between Surrogate, Digital ID wallet, and Metaverse?
Surrogate, a 2009 fiction film starring Bruce Willis, addressed that in the age of technological advancement, humans can just sit at home and control the surrogate to do dangerous task on the streets. Even if an accident occurs, humans can still be safe as well. I have quoted this movie when I gave speeches about Smart Innovation in Chihlee University of Technology and University of Taipei in 2017, and called on not to ignore the possibility of science fiction becoming true.
In June 2021, the European Commission proposed the Digital ID wallet to create digital twins for natural persons and enterprises that can be used to authenticate identities with different attributes (including education background, medical records, tax information, etc.) on various occasions. In the future, legal or natural persons in Europe can engage in cross-border online activities among member states and be protected by GDPR.
In September 2021, Metaverse, which existed only in science fiction novels, after Facebook founder Zuckerberg bet Facebook’s future on it and even poured money developing, has become hotter. This luxury version of VR/AR makes the distinction between virtual and physical world blurred in daily life, but more real in the hearts of young people.
A person has different “identities” and also different “agents”. The plots in fiction movies and novels are coming into life gradually, and the boundaries between real and virtual have become ambiguous. Of the above three easy-to-get examples, one is that the principal and the agent are in different spaces of the physical world, another is that the principal and the agent are in the same space of the physical world, and the other one is that the principa and the agent are separately in physical or virtual world. Everything seems peaceful and perfect but as technology advances, will the well water , as a Chinese proverb indicates, encroach on river water?
The legal relationship among people will become more complicated as the physical or virtual world evolve. Billionaires in the physical world may be in debt in the virtual world, and vice versa. Can the debt be offset in physical and virtual world except through the purchase of game token? Can the court judgment in virtual world, if any, be enforced in the physical world? From traditional legal aspect, the answer may be no, but on second thoughts, if the virtual avatar use the physical digital ID wallet, what legal effect will it take place?
There are already cryptocurrencies in the physical world and there might be Libra, what Facebook can hardly give up on, in Zuckerberg’s Metaverse plan, or at least other new cryptocurrencies launched in the virtual world. All cryptocurrencies are digital with similar intrinsic value, so is it ok to exchange property or fiat money in two worlds? It is said that Zuckerberg worships Julius Caesar, so does he mean to be the new Caesar in Metaverse? With the advancement of technology, the introduction of digital identities, and the use of cryptocurrencies, new Caesar seems not a dream any more.
The traditional view is that the VR/AR mask can separate the physical and virtual world. But through the online digital identity authentication, the boundary might no longer exists. And even by online digital technologies can we transfer cryptocurrencies between physical and virtual world. Once the virtual and physical community are not restricted by the physical mask, who is the principal and who is the agent?
The above may be fantasies. But, well, in 2006 when I wrote the article in the newspaper, saying that money in future days may be in software based, friends of central bank also think I was fantasizing, didn’t they?