Opinion - The Korea Times

Is content moderation necessary evil?

By Daniel ShinContent moderation can have a disproportionate effect on already-marginalized groups of people. Content moderation often results in mass take-downs of speech on social media from a marginalized group of people, while more dominant and well-funded parties could benefit from more nuanced approaches in their communications on major social media platforms. When a platform decides to enforce certain rules, unfortunately, those rules tend to only be applied to marginalized groups, which shouldn't be the case.Content moderation decisions can cause real-world harm to general audiences as well as various stakeholders when they try to moderate what they deem desirable or undesirable content. These decisions all too often have a disproportionate effect on marginalized groups. Content moderation is supposed to reduce or eradicate hatred and social bias, but sometimes it makes an unwanted increase. While it is important to protect certain audiences like minors from any harmful content, it is equally important to ensure that content moderation decisions do not cause any real-world ha

Mar 27, 2023By Daniel Shin

Daniel Shin

There is no place to hide: Will NFT be taxable?

By Daniel ShinNFT stands for non-fungible token. It is a fancy term for a unique digital asset that is associated with blockchain technology. Regardless of the recent ups and downs of cryptocurrencies, businesses relating to NFTs have rapidly expanded. It encompasses both tangible and intangible assets such as music, fine art, sports, hard jewelry, virtual goods and more. NFTs will likely continue their double-digit growth in the coming years despite the recent troubles with cryptocurrencies.Korea had once taken up almost 30 percent of global cryptocurrencies and NFTs trade. Perhaps zero tax on digital assets has propelled the adoption of NFTs. Due to its popularity, the National Tax Service (NTS) has announced that NFTs will be taxed in the coming years. However, there are yet no clear rules, regulations or even taxable legal definitions concerning NFTs or more broadly, digital assets ― although legislators have been working on it. NFTs have come to prominence on a global scale as a way for creators to get fair compensation for their creative endeavors. It is also helpful for collec

Feb 19, 2023By Daniel Shin

Daniel Shin

Future of religion in metaverse

By Daniel ShinTech companies are investing in the metaverse and recognizing the importance of religious communities. Some have already been regularly meeting in the metaverse and conducting religious rituals like baptism. The metaverse will play a key role in religious communities soon. Many questions remain, though, as to whether that relationship will be beneficial for the religious communities or merely help the metaverse platform companies prioritize profits in the name of religious faith at any cost.Religious communities have long been key players in gathering people in congregations throughout history. Hence, it is not a surprise that religious communities have been actively exploring the true potential of the metaverse during the pandemic. As the Zoom meeting has become the new norm regardless of age, gender, background, and level of digital literacy, the road to the metaverse has been paved with a mix of hype and hope. At the same time, the questions of who owns and governs the infrastructure necessary for meeting and growing faith-based communities in the metaverse raise con

Jan 15, 2023By Daniel Shin

Daniel Shin

This Christmas, I pray for your safe return, my friend

By Daniel Shin Working for a nonprofit organization (NPO) gives people an opportunity to make a positive impact. However, identifying the right cause and creating an NPO is a different story. An entrepreneur is someone willing to launch a new venture and accept full responsibility for running the organization. It is a rewarding experience if everything goes well as planned. NPOs are generally supposed to improve the quality of life for others at a community, local, state, national or even global level. A big difference with a profit corporation, though, is that NPOs are not attached to private or financial gain, but are dedicated to the public interest or the betterment of society by and large. It means that there is no monetary gain or financial upside for the founders of NPOs. Solomon Song (a.k.a. Solnamoo Song), a friend of mine from elementary school, is a flutist by training. He has been featured on various professional music labels and TV shows as a composer and instrumentalist. He is a prolific presenter and inspirational performer at the finest musical events and also Christi

Dec 18, 2022By Daniel Shin

Daniel Shin

Idea is cheap, execution is expensive

By Daniel ShinThere is no shortage of remarkable ideas. Real work always comes with timely execution. Ideas are just theories if entrepreneurs do not spit them out. What makes the difference is an entrepreneur's will to execute and carry on no matter what the circumstances are.The market is tough right now. Valuations have come down. There are no glorious venture exits in the pipeline. Startup entrepreneurs tend to lower the size of their next funding round. As a consequence, it lowers pre-money valuations. In addition, it is not only Twitter that has signaled a huge wave of layoffs and hiring freezes in the coming weeks. Entrepreneurs are facing headwinds. Ventures can take a few years until they are fully mature to go public or become an acquisition target. Any formidable venture exit would come back when the economy becomes more vibrant a few years later. When it comes to startup funding, a default option is a failure. Why do you even bother creating a business profit if there is no sufficient funding? As a matter of fact, winter might have already come. College endowments in the

Nov 20, 2022By Daniel Shin

Daniel Shin

Strategic decoupling in key tech sectors: another pressure point

By Daniel Shin Decoupling means the separation of previously tightly linked systems so that those systems can operate independently. In layperson's terms, decoupling refers to an economy that would be able to grow or shrink without corresponding external factors or other economies.What has been correlated with others in the past no longer moves in step according to expectations. The renminbi (RMB or Chinese yuan) has broken its traditional ties with the U.S. dollar (USD), which has been followed by much visible divergence in recent months, for example. Currently, uncertainties reign. What complicates assessments of potential USD-RMB decoupling is, though, the prolonged impact of pandemic uncertainties, geopolitical tensions and wars, central banks' monetary policies and rate hikes under inflationary pressures. These are not purely economic issues anymore.Global supply chains are so complex. The whole global supply chain is tightly interlinked together. As we've seen from the pandemic to war, supply chain disruptions have had a huge negative impact on global industrial production, tra

Oct 16, 2022By Daniel Shin

Daniel Shin

License to die: Life with dignity

By Daniel Shin The death of Queen Elizabeth II brought condolences from global leaders and people from all walks of life. Her death has prompted the memories of her majestic influence, which finally came to an end after 70 years of her reign. Her legacy will remain strong. Like all others, we will miss her. What makes it sad, though, is that it is only a few months after Great Britain celebrated the queen's Platinum Jubilee with many spectacular events to mark the 70 years of her excellent service to the nation.Life is too short. Hence, we should not brag about it. The queen's funeral teaches us important lessons about death. Death is fair to all. Death cannot be cheated. We send our best regards to those who lost their dear ones this year. Miu Kakiya is a prolific Japanese novelist, who wrote a book called, “The 70-year-old Death Bill, Approval.” In her own imagination, Kakiya created the context where ordinary families live under a legal bill that enforces mandatory death at the age of 70, as the government wants to solve many societal issues around the aging population

Sep 18, 2022By Daniel Shin

Daniel Shin

Philanthropy redefined with crypto

By Daniel Shin Philanthropy is huge. In America alone, philanthropic donations reached $485 billion in 2021. Despite the uncertainty about the continued spread of COVID-19, the total amount of philanthropic giving grew by 4 percent year-on-year. Philanthropy is driven by mission, purpose and passion. Donors are focused on building a more inclusive and equitable society. They also aim to drive systemic change and sustainable social progress.The majority of donations went to religion, education, health care and so forth. Gifts for arts, culture, humanities, and environment also saw double digit growth. Prior to COVID-19, approximately 78 million citizens of the United States volunteered and contributed 5.8 billion hours for public benefit. Religion, sport, culture, and art are key areas where people were actively engaged in volunteering on top of their donations. Some might have done philanthropic giving to receive a charitable tax deduction. Though, donors tend to provide their money, capabilities and professional acumen to support charitable causes in ways that also sharpen up their

Aug 14, 2022By Daniel Shin

Daniel Shin

Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs: power of generating value from digital assets

By Daniel Shin Intellectual property (IP) is a powerful tool to give a sense of ownership to the original creator. Hence, intellectual property has to be well protected by law. Oftentimes, small ventures lack the resources to effectively protect their intellectual property. Even if the modern concept of intellectual property has evolved since the 17th century, primarily in Europe, intellectual property law could date far back. In medieval Europe, for example, guilds or associations of artisans were granted authority by governors to regulate their respective industries. NFT.NYC held in New York City in late June was a great success. NFT.NYC is the largest and most respected conference for the non-fungible token (NFT) industry. Amid the cryptocurrency crash, the NFT.NYC conference could have been a disaster. But it received over 20,000 attendees. As some said, NFT.NYC has grown into the Super Bowl of NFTs. Out of the flood of party invitations for NFT.NYC, ApeFest, in its second year in a row, received the most attention. ApeFest only allowed people to enter who hold Mutant and Bored A

Jul 17, 2022By Daniel Shin

Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs: power of generating value from digital assets

Daniel Shin

Longing for higher power and spiritual values

By Daniel Shin Nothing is certain but death. People increasingly respond to their deepest human needs. We have a natural need to feel connected to the world, to others and religious traditions. Anthropology, philosophy or neuroscience can't simply answer the question of whether a higher power really exists. We tend to look for patterns, structures and causes for everything. But there is no single right answer for our divine purposes and our hopes for a higher power.Religious belief has deeply influenced human society. Many people could claim that they have grown out of religion with their accumulated assets, knowledge and social influence. But, even today there are a lot of people who are not generally content with their lives. People do not appreciate the purpose of their limited lifespans on earth. They hardly find profound connections between their lives and other societal endeavors. The power of religion helps us to shape our vision of the world and actions toward each other. Hence, there is an urgent need for a more sophisticated understanding of religion beyond any discipline.

Jun 19, 2022By Daniel Shin

Daniel Shin

Read more

Is content moderation necessary evil?

There is no place to hide: Will NFT be taxable?

Future of religion in metaverse

This Christmas, I pray for your safe return, my friend

Idea is cheap, execution is expensive

Strategic decoupling in key tech sectors: another pressure point

License to die: Life with dignity

Philanthropy redefined with crypto

Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs: power of generating value from digital assets

Longing for higher power and spiritual values

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