Decentraland's District X: Obligations and Accountability
As covered last week in The X is for Fraud, District X has been marred by controversy since 2018 and continues to highlight the centralized foundation of the supposed decentralized platform attempting to build on it. With literal years, bordering on half a decade, to prepare a thoughtful answer to the concerns of many, RobL (Robert Lynn) instead had nothing but insults, intimidation, and arrogance.
RobL has promised Revenue Sharing in a licensing agreement. RobL agreed to update supporters by June 15th, 2022, about the District's financial status for the 2021 year. RobL has failed to deliver that update.
RobL's defense appears to be "no districts have made Revenue." However, no one is asking RobL to hand over money. He is, however, expected to show the contributors the numbers that clarify why they've not received any RevShare.
Failing to make money does not absolve you of the responsibility of accounting and communication.
Effective leadership requires taking ownership and responsibility. Competent leadership requires being proactive and handling challenges and difficult questions as soon as they materialize.
Leaders don't silence and ban critics while burying their heads in the sand and hoping the problem solves itself or disappears.
RobL convinced people to allow him the chance to lead the project based on his argument that District land was community land. That a District Leader was not a dictator but a steward of the community.
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of examples of RobL making arguments about the original project lead that if you just replace "SAAM" with "RobL," you could easily mistake them for something written about Rob himself.
The kind of person who would ignore obligations.
Not one contributor has come forward to defend RobL and says they've received any kind of updates about this financial obligation.
However, an ever-growing list of people who have been banned, silenced, or ignored is growing almost daily.
I am not a judge, jury, or lawyer; I can't tell you that, without question, what RobL has done is illegal. Though, others have been more than happy to declare that confidently.
What I can tell you is that not one person has come forward to argue that what RobL has done was ethical or in the best interest of anyone involved other than himself. RobL himself has argued his exact actions are that of a fraud attempting to take what isn't theirs.
Conclusion
It is too late to fix the failings of District X.
RobL needs to hand the District land back to the community. He has a questionable legal claim and no ethical right to attempt to use the land or sell it, as he has attempted to do multiple times.
