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Blockchain and the Law: The Rule of Code

Blockchain and the Law: The Rule of Code

Author: Primavera De Filippi; Aaron Wright
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674241596

Published In: September 2019
Format: Paperback
Jurisdiction: U.S. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only
Hardback Edition ISBN: 9780674976429

HKD 238.00

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Description
Contents

Details

Bitcoin has been hailed as an Internet marvel and decried as the preferred transaction vehicle for criminals. It has left nearly everyone without a computer science degree confused: how do you "mine" money from ones and zeros?

The answer lies in a technology called blockchain. A general-purpose tool for creating secure, decentralized, peer-to-peer applications, blockchain technology has been compared to the Internet in both form and impact. Blockchains are being used to create "smart contracts," to expedite payments, to make financial instruments, to organize the exchange of data and information, and to facilitate interactions between humans and machines.

But by cutting out the middlemen, they run the risk of undermining governmental authorities' ability to supervise activities in banking, commerce, and the law. As this essential book makes clear, the technology cannot be harnessed productively without new rules and new approaches to legal thinking.

Primavera De Filippi and Aaron Wright acknowledge this potential and urge the law to catch up. That is because disintermediation—a blockchain’s greatest asset—subverts critical regulation. By cutting out middlemen, such as large online operators and multinational corporations, blockchains run the risk of undermining the capacity of governmental authorities to supervise activities in banking, commerce, law, and other vital areas.

De Filippi and Wright welcome the new possibilities inherent in blockchains. But as Blockchain and the Law makes clear, the technology cannot be harnessed productively without new rules and new approaches to legal thinking.

Introduction

I. The Technology

1. Blockchains, Bitcoin, and Decentralized Computing Platforms

2. Characteristics of Blockchains

II. Blockchains, Finance, and Contracts

3. Digital Currencies and Decentralized Payment Systems

4. Smart Contracts as Legal Contracts

5. Smart Securities and Derivatives

III. Blockchains and Information Systems

6. Tamper-Resistant, Certified, and Authenticated Data

7. Resilient and Tamper-Resistant Information Systems

IV. Organizations and Automation