Should cryptoeconomic websites become media?

Why do they need media status?

During the study of the crypto information field, analysts from Bitnewstoday.com noticed that there is very little news on cryptoeconomic issues coming via the Google and Yandex newsletters.

These mailings usually contain 2-3 news, while cryptoeconomic media outlets publish them daily. In fact, they are only seen within the crypto community, since almost all crypto sites are not indexed by aggregators because they are not media. As a result, the mass audience will learn about cryptoeconomics through the official major media, which don't often pay due attention to this subject.

Is there a need for websites about cryptoeconomics?

According to experts, the level of awareness about crypto-economics in Russia (especially in the regions) is extremely low. Results of the NAFI survey conducted in July 2017 showed that 72% of Russians did not hear anything about the cryptocurrency. Only 12% of respondents said they were well informed on this issue, and only one in 100 respondents was a user of digital currency.

The emergence of cryptocurrencies, ICO, crypto exchanges, etc., generates new types of fraud. Therefore, media outlets that help ordinary citizens navigate in the new industry and avoid falling into the hands of scammers are of great importance.

According to the analysis of Bitnewstoday.com, among 37 information resources dedicated to cryptoeconomics only 1 has the status of media.

Next, let us take a look at what advantages an information agency can have after getting the status of a media.

What gives the status of media

If the information resource passes the registration procedure and becomes media, then it will receive a number of advantages, notes Anna Kozlovskaya, PhD in history, lawyer, head of the Legal Practice "Anna Kozlovskaya and Partners."

First, it is an image component. A certificate of media registration increases the authority of the site owner, helps to distinguish the site among the rest. Sponsors, advertisers, agencies, Yandex, etc. require registration of media to work with news sites.

Secondly, the outlet will have the right to request information on the activities of state bodies and organizations, public associations, their officials.

Thirdly, it will become more difficult to "steal" information from the resource, since media and information outlets are required to place a reference link to the source when publishing their content. 

Fourth, the limitation of liability (which is very important). If the site is not registered as media, but carries out information activities, then the owner of the domain and the author of the text are responsible for the posted content. If the outlet is registered as media, responsibility for the spread of inaccurate information is assigned to the author of the content and the editorial board. In other words, if the resource is not the media, its owner must always double-check the materials of the authors, since he himself is responsible for them.

In addition to the above-mentioned advantages, the media has the right to be accredited for various events and to enjoy a wide range of journalist's rights, including visits to state bodies, requesting comments from them, and so on.

So, the status of media is an important component for outet's image, and it also helps to increase content's originality, to receive exclusive news faster than others (however, everything depends on the editorial staff here). A question arises - if there are so many advantages in the status of media, then why not everyone is in a hurry to get it, Bitnewstoday.com asks the experts.

If there are so many advantages, why only few become media: what experts say

Experts note that in order to get the status of media, information resource must meet the requirements regulated by the law. In addition, the very process of registration in Roskomnadzor often turns out to be a waste of time and money. Sometimes it happens that documents for registration must be prepared several times. 

"Most of the opportunities that registration as media can give are not fundamentally interesting to websites dedicated to cryptocurrency," said Eduard Lanchev, CEO & Founder of FUNDERY (fundery.ru). - Registration will not bring new subscribers, and its absence will not stop from attracting the audience. The most important thing is interesting, reliable and popular information. To attract the widest possible audience it makes sense to use the comments and opinions of recognized experts, specialists with great practical experience in ICO. There should always be the latest news related to the subject of the site. Regardless of how big the traffic from aggregators can be, the subscribers base must be always broadened".

Anna Kozlovskaya believes that reluctance to registrate websites dedicated to cryptocurrencies and blockchain as media only reflects the general feeling of the "cryptocurrency revolution" - freedom from state and laws, coming up with an idea and quickly launching ICO, without thinking much about the consequences.

Another reason is the absence of legal regulation for cryptocurrency operations in Russia.

"Few people are ready to open a media dedicated to the topic, which can be prohibited at any time. It can be said that over the recent years the position of the regulatory bodies has changed from restrictive-prohibitive to precautionary-permissive. While in the last year the issue of prohibiting bitcoins was discussed at the legislative level, in this spring the deputy head of the Ministry of Finance Alexei Moiseev publicly announced the legalization of digital money," said Vadim Petrov, deputy head of the web development department of QBF.

"Cryptocurrencies today are outlawed. At the same time, media legislation does not allow to register outlets whose activities are somehow connected with violation of current legislation," added Kirill Nikitin, a lawyer of law company VEGAS LEX.

Some experts believe that websites about cryptocurrency often simply do not need the advantages of media status. "Unwillingness to register as media is a common feature of many sectoral online outlets, especially in the IT field, as they have little interest in being indexed by news aggregators and do not want to take the increased responsibility indicated in the federal law on the media," noted Olga Filippenko, CEO of the Monitoring and Analysis Center "Smimonitor".

To sum up, we can say that registration as media is necessary only when the information resource clearly understands how it can be monetized. In another case, the relevant inscription on the website will be the only thing that company will receive from this status.

We ask the representatives of crypto community to express their opinion whether it is worthwhile for cryptocurrency related websites to become media.