About

Welcome to starbeam.one, a digital art project

starbeam.one is an exploration of technology, business, and artistic concepts. Here, you will find pieces of art put together by me, Michael "Mike-E-angelo" DeMond, placed for sale here via this application after re-connecting with my high school passion of penciling and narrative art. I hope you enjoy exploring these first steps of this process as much as I have had creating the software and art that comprise it.

Video Introduction

Watch the playlist below to get an introduction to starbeam.one and its creator, Mike-E-angelo.

Frequently Asked Questions

What the Heck is starbeam.one?

starbeam.one is a system that provides a marketplace for creators to create, publish, and sell Resalable Digital Licenses (RDLs) to their work. Collectors can then purchase these licenses and resell them to other collectors on a provided starbeam.one resale market.

That Sounds a Lot Like "NFTs"

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are a decentralized (and, at present, arguably inefficient) form of digital licensing. One of the many critiques around NFTs is that they are an extremely lacking (i.e. "inefficient") implementation. They are a newer technology, which means in addition to their inefficiency, they are foreign, and difficult to use.

In contrast, Resalable Digital Licenses (RDLs) can be viewed as the Unabashedly Centralized™ counterpart to NFTs. starbeam.one is founded on the premise of being Unabashedly Centralized™, which means it uses familiar, traditional technologies to achieve digital ownership. Doing so:

Removes the need to install a wallet
Removes the dependency on volatile assets
Removes the need to keep track of your "private key" to access your licenses
Has immediate recourse in the case of a hack/theft/fraud (whereas blockchain is irreversible)
Performing activities such as refunds/reversals are expected and allowed (note that the first version of our product does not have this feature but future ones will)

Sounds Good, But What's the Catch?

One of the qualities of decentralization is individual sovereignty, where you "become your own bank" and are in full control of your assets. In a traditional, centralized model, the service (e.g. starbeam.one) is custodian over your assets. Each model has its own advantages and disadvantages. However, few if no centralized offerings exist, so there lacks market choice for those who prefer the Unabashedly Centralized™ model.

While it is debatable whether centralized custody is considered a "catch," an identified risk with the model is discussed in the final question below.

Why Create a Centralized Digital Ownership Market?

Why not? It's surprising that it hasn't already been done. In short, it is to provide market choice and the resulting market efficiency, allowing those to choose between their preference of centralized vs. decentralized. There seems to be a misconception that a blockchain is required to achieve digital ownership. starbeam.one was built in part to prove that digital ownership can be accomplished without the blockchain. Moreover, it was built to see how such a concept would be received by the general market.

Additionally -- as any cryptoartist will tell you -- having your net worth dictated (some would even call it held hostage) -- by a volatile asset is OK when its price is going up, but not so OK when its price is going down. Having a centralized market removes this unpredictable volatility from the equation. This puts creators 100% focused on sales of their product, rather than obsessing over the price of an asset (or assets in the case of a "Level 2" blockchain).

Can A Creator Use Both Centralized and Decentralized Markets?

Yes. Let's see which one performs better for them. :)

Will There Be Other Centralized Digital Ownership Marketplaces?

That's the hope! Just as there are many blockchains, there should and will be many centralized digital ownership applications, all competing to demonstrate who has the most efficient and user-friendly offering.

Are There Gas Fees?

No, all transactions are centralized and traditional. This means every sale, resale, and issuance (the centralized equivalent to "minting") is free of any enforced network fees, and are as instant as the time it takes to save to a database.

(Hint: it is pretty instant.)

What About Royalties?

Yes, those are included in every starbeam.one resale. Every resale generates at least 10% of the transaction back to the originating creator as a royalty.

At Least 10%?

With starbeam.one, you are provided controls to determine how much of a % with each resale to commit to royalties, from 10-90%. The more you commit, the more "VIP Status" you achieve with the system and creators that you support. This unlocks exclusive specials, offers, and gifts to you as time goes on.

Does starbeam.one Take a Commission from Each Sale? (No, It Does Not)

The creator gets 100% of their asking price. Additionally, for each sale, a control is provided for the purchaser to provide an optional % they feel the network should also receive. It defaults to 10%, but can be set anywhere from 0%-90%. Again, the same "VIP Status" mechanism applies for those who commit a higher % over time.

Are You Anti-Blockchain?

No. If anything pro-blockchain, as if it weren't for the blockchain, the concept of resalable digital ownership would never have been established as it is today. That stated, the blockchain is a newer technology and as such suffers from inefficiencies. It still has some interesting use cases and it is possible that in the future some integration might be possible.

What Happens If starbeam.one Goes Out of Business?

This is discussed here in our living will.

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Acknowledgements

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