El autor otorga una visión adecuada de smart contract. No obstante, no se detiene en definir este tipo contractual, pues advierte ciertas características que deberán tenerse en cuenta para afinar su funcionalidad, además de identificar las ventajas del arbitraje en la solución de controversias que nazcan en la ejecución de tales actos jurídicos, siempre que se logre un empalme adecuado con este sistema heterocompositivo.
El blockchain i el smart contract són dos tecnologies emergents, independents entre elles, que estan adoptant cada volta més protagonisme i rellevància social. Aquest article fa una aproximació a ambdues tecnologies des d’una òptica fiscal i tributària. En particular, s’explora la relació de les dos tecnologies amb l’Impost sobre les Transmissions Patrimonials i els Actes Jurídics Documentats, regulat al Text Refós de la Llei de l’Impost sobre Transmissions Patrimonials i Actes Jurídics Documentats i el seu corresponent reglament.
The aim of this research is to bring the reader closer to several concepts that are becoming more common day by day, and which find themselves in unstoppable development, such as blockchain technology, tokens, ICO (Initial Coin Offerings) or DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations). Thus, the process of «tokenization», based on abstractly representing a value through the blockchain, is a transcendental innovation in areas such as the financial or the corporate spheres, where ICO —introducing a new business financing channel through the online sale of cryptographic assets— or DAO —entities managed in a decentralized way through smart contracts by tokens holders— come onto the scene. Likewise, their undeniable utilities will be enhanced, but the practical problems faced by these technological developments will also be analyzed, being the main one the regulatory uncertainty.
Spanish Abstract: Los Smarts Contract son en terminos muy generales un conjunto de protocolos informaticos, que permite a un dispositivo procesarlos por si mismo y ejecutarlos de forma autonoma, sin necesidad de intervencion humana. La ausencia de intervencion humana y su sustitucion por un proceso (conjunto de protocolos) que permite la automatizacion de operaciones; la concrecion automatica de las prestaciones en las transacciones; el cumplimiento automatico de las mismas; y la utilizacion de otras tecnologias que permiten la verificacion de la informacion y de la identidad de los sujetos implicados en la transaccion, conduce a un elevado ahorro de costes, y las expectativas de las partes para la satisfaccion de sus intereses conforme a lo establecido en el contrato se verian ampliamente protegidas. Rapidez, previsibilidad y automatizacion marcarian las coordenadas del ejercicio de la autonomia de la voluntad y facilitarian una creciente y efectiva autotutela. No obstante estas evidentes ventajas, esta figura presenta limitaciones y desventajas y plantea posibles problemas a los que el Derecho debe hacer frente. En este trabajo explicaremos primero brevemente el fenomeno de los Smart Contracts, y los enmarcaremos en su particular ecosistema, para, a continuacion, abordar algunas de las cuestiones juridicas que los Smart Contracts plantean.
English Abstract: Smart Contracts can be defined very generally as a set of protocols enabling a computing device to autonomously process and execute them without human intervention. That replacement of human intervention by a set of protocols enabling the automation of operations, the automatic assessment of performance in a transaction, the autonomous and automatic fulfilment of obligations, and the combined use of other technologies facilitating the verification of data and parties’ identity entail a significant reduction of transaction costs, as well as a high satisfaction of parties’ expectations in conformity with the contract. Celerity, predictability, and automation would represent the coordinates for the exercise of private autonomy and an increasing resort to effective self-help. Notwithstanding such evident advantages, Smart Contracts do also reveal limitations, drawbacks, and legal concerns that should be considered and faced. This aim of this Paper is first to explain the phenomenon of Smart Contracts from a legal perspective and to frame them into their particular ecosystem, and, subsequently, to tackle some main legal issues pertaining to Smart Contracts.
Se tratan algunas cuestiones clave que, desde la óptica legal, y en particular del derecho de la contratación, comienza a plantear en España la introducción y generalización en la práctica de sistemas de contratación electrónica fundados en la tecnología denominada de cadenas de bloques o registros distribuidos, y en el empleo de los llamados contratos inteligentes.
espanolLos contratos inteligentes o smart contracts, son una realidad que se viene aplicando desde hace tiempo, aunque han ganado relevancia con motivo del descubrimiento de la cadena de bloques. Tanto los smart contracts que se ejecutan de acuerdo con dicha tecnologia como los que tienen lugar fuera de ella responden esencialmente a un mismo esquema: son secuencias de codigo que expresan o implementan acuerdos existentes que pueden producir efectos juridicos cuya peculiaridad esencial es que se ejecutan de manera autonoma. Este articulo se dedica al estudio de los retos juridicos que suscitan los smart contracts con relevancia juridica ejecutados fuera de una cadena de bloques; en concreto, a si son o no contratos, a su proceso de formacion, a la incidencia que tiene en ellos el error, a su prueba en el proceso judicial, asi como a algunos aspectos relativos al pago. A fin de comprender de manera completa los contratos inteligentes, tambien se analiza su significado, su origen historico, su funcionamiento, sus ventajas y las dificultades que presentan. EnglishSmart contracts are a reality that has been applied for decades, although they have gained relevance due to the discovery of the blockchain. Both the smart contracts that are executed according to said technology and those which take place outside of it, respond essentially to the same scheme: they are code sequences which express or implement existing agreements that can produce legal effects whose essential feature is that they are self-executable autonomously. This paper is dedicated to the study of the legal challenges that arise from smart contracts executed outside the blockchain; in particular, to whether or not they are contracts, to their making process, to the incidence that the error has on them, to their proof in the judicial procedure, as well as to some aspects related to payment. In order to get a full understanding of smart contracts, their meaning, their historical origin, their operation, their advantages and their difficulties will be also analyzed.
This chapter looks beyond the novelty of self-executing ‘smart contracts’ in blockchain networks and explores developments against the background fact that commercial parties have, for centuries, used documentary credit to simulate autonomous performance. Blockchain-based smart contracts and documentary credit share three core functionalities which are essential to any effective autonomous performance, analogue or digital—they both (i) act through internalized media of exchange; (ii) operate as closed systems; and (iii) provide means of securing sufficient resources to guarantee contractual performance. Using these three functionalities as a framework, this chapter conducts a comparative analysis of mechanisms for effecting autonomous contractual performance in a commercial setting. From this comparison, a few hypotheses are drawn regarding the potential areas where smart contract technology is more likely to find fruitful application. In particular, the chapter considers potential limitations to applying smart contracts to scenarios beyond digital asset transfers, how dispute resolution mechanisms should be designed to complement (rather impair) the autonomous nature of contractual performance under smart contracts, and potential capital cost implications which might arise in some cases when parties seek to replace human intermediaries with smart contracts.
espanolEl presente trabajo busca analizar los posibles problemas que plantea el uso y aceptacion de criptodivisas como bitcoin en las distintas modalidades de crowdfunding practicadas en la actualidad. Para ello se explican las formas de crowdfunding mas utilizadas en funcion de la relacion contractual promotor- inversor y la normativa juridica a la que estan sometidas. EnglishThe present work seeks to analyze the possible legal difficulties that may arise from the use and acceptance of cryptocurrencies as bitcoin in crowfunding context. To do this, the different forms of crowdfunding are summarized in terms of the contractual promoter-investorrelationship and the legal regulations to which they are subject
espanolLa aparicion de contratos en formato electronico y autoejecutables es el resultado logico del progresivo proceso de automatizacion en la distribucion y en el internet de las cosas. Nuestro regimen legal integra sin dificultad este formato de contratacion, pero conseguir un proceso totalmente automatizado implica recurrir a mecanismos de pago en red que no siempre se adaptan al tipo contractual. El uso del dinero electronico y las monedas virtuales como el bitcoin cubren esta funcion pero la escasa o nula regulacion de las monedas virtuales y su doble caracter de unidad de valor y unidad de cuenta dificultan la funcionalidad y seguridad juridica del uso de las tecnologias Blockchain en formatos estandarizados y automatizados de contratacion. EnglishThe appearance of smart contract in electronic and self-executable format, is the logical result of the progressive process of automation in the distribution and on called “Internet of things”. Law integrates this contracting format without difficulty, but achieving a fully automated process involves using online payment mechanisms that are not always adapted to the contractual type. The use of electronic money and virtual currencies, such as bitcoin, cover this function, but the scarce or null regulation of virtual currencies and their double character, as a unit of value and a unit of account, make the functionality and legal security of the use of Blockchain technologies difficult in standardized and automated contracting formats
Million of dollars are moved worldwide by electronic contracting daily, obviously its legal regulation has been the subject of considerable debates within the contemporary commercial and procedural law. It is not only about analyzing the substantial perspective of electronic contract, but also the possibility of its demand and effectiveness in procedural stages. This article analyzes the principles that impact electronic contracting, with its own jurisprudential and normative development in the Colombian context; this requires a brief overview about the importance of the principles in law and their functions, secondly, an introduction to the phenomenon of electronic contracting, and finally with the detailed study of the principles. Later it will be analyzed its application in bitcoins.
Spanish Abstract: Una de las primeras medidas planteadas para desarrollar la estrategia del “Mercado Unico Digital” (Comunicacion de la Comision Europea de 5 de mayo de 2015) es la Propuesta de Directiva sobre determinados aspectos de los contratos de suministro de contenidos digitales de 9 de diciembre de 2015 [COM(2015) 634 final]. Ese texto afronta del dificil reto de adaptar las reglas tradicionales sobre la falta de conformidad de los bienes con el contrato de compraventa al nuevo escenario del “contrato de suministro” de contenidos digitales. En el presente estudio se abordan en primer lugar algunas cuestiones generales de la Propuesta de Directiva: el concepto amplio de “contenidos digitales”, que incluye tambien “servicios” como el almacenamiento en la nube (cloud computing) o las redes sociales, la naturaleza juridica de contrato de suministro –que, con un enfoque funcional acertado, no se prejuzga–, la relacion de la Propuesta con otras normas europeas y la decision de incluir en su ambito de aplicacion tambien los contratos cuya contraprestacion fue no dineraria, en forma de datos; esta ultima solucion, que correctamente toma en consideracion el valor monetario de los datos, resulta demasiado restringida al incorporar el requisito de que los datos deban ser facilitado “activamente” por el consumidor, lo cual es objeto de critica. En segundo lugar, en estas paginas se aborda el regimen de conformidad de los contenidos digitales con el contrato (arts. 6-9), el sistema de responsabilidad del proveedor tanto por falta de suministro o retraso como por falta de conformidad de lo suministrado (art. 10) y los remedios, acciones o formas de saneamiento aparejadas a esa responsabilidad (arts. 11-14).Este analisis trata de valorar los fundamentos y consecuencias de las reglas favorables y perjudiciales para los intereses de los consumidores y alerta sobre algunas carencias, incognitas y defectos que plantean ciertos articulos, para los que se ofrecen sugerencias de modificacion o interpretaciones que permitan una adecuada ponderacion de intereses. Asi, entre las reglas favorables a la posicion de los consumidores, se analizan y valoran positivamente las normas sobre carga de la prueba, la validez de la resolucion mediante notificacion por cualquier medio o las previsiones sobre la restitucion de las contraprestaciones tras la resolucion, en las que se presta especial cuidado a la recuperacion de los contenidos generados por el usuario. En cambio, entre las reglas que plantean mayores dudas y merecen clarificacion por efecto del enfoque de armonizacion maxima esta el saber si en caso de falta de suministro el consumidor solo dispone del derecho de resolucion inmediata (mas indemnizacion) o averiguar si se pretende que el muy limitado regimen de indemnizacion solo por dano economico al entorno digital del consumidor veta a los Estados miembros aprobar otras normas para garantizar otras indemnizaciones por otros danos. Tambien se defiende que los fines de la Propuesta de Directiva quedarian mejor cubiertos si se estableciesen normas uniformes sobre prescripcion de las acciones, a falta de plazo de garantia legal. Finalmente, este ensayo se muestra especialmente critico con algunas decisiones que son claramente perjudiciales a unos intereses legitimos de los consumidores que cabia esperar mas protegidos en esta Propuesta (por contraste con otras): en concreto, se sostiene que la norma deberia consagrar algunos parametros legales y objetivos minimos sobre las expectativas razonables de los consumidores, sin dar una primacia practicamente absoluta a lo establecido unilateralmente por el proveedor; se aboga por extender la resolucion inmediata y no solo subsidiaria a las faltas de conformidad mas graves que frustran totalmente el fin del contrato para el consumidor y se realiza una interpretacion del art. 12.5 que favorece cierta relajacion de los requisitos exigidos para resolver; o se propone admitir que el consumidor pueda suspender el pago del precio pendiente mientras no se produzca la puesta en conformidad.English Abstract: The Proposal for a directive on certain aspects concerning contracts for the supply of digital content of 9 December 2015 [COM(2015) 634 final] (“the Proposal”) is one of the first measures to put into effect the Digital Single Market Strategy as set out in the European Commission’s Communication of 5 May 2015. The Proposal takes up the challenge of adapting the traditional rules governing lack of conformity of goods under the law of sale to the new context of contracts for the supply of digital content. This paper will deal first with some general issues arising from the Proposal: its wide definition of “digital content”, which embraces also such “services” as cloud computing or social networks and platforms; the legal nature of the contract of supply –which is not predetermined, i.e., it is properly understood functionally rather than defined conceptually–; the relationship between the Proposal and other European legal rules; and the decision to include within its scope contracts where the “counter-performance” provided by the consumer for the supply of digital content is in the form of data rather than money. In the author’s view, this last decision correctly takes account of the financial value of data, but the Proposal’s drafting is too narrow as it requires an “active” role on the part of the consumer providing it. Secondly, the paper will analyse the regime of conformity of the digital content with the contract (arts. 6-9), the system of liability of the provider, both in respect of any failure to supply the digital content and of any lack of conformity of the content supplied (art. 10), and the remedies provided for these kinds of contractual non-performance (arts. 11-14).The resulting analysis reveals the extent to which the Proposal promotes or prejudices the interests of consumers, and it also indicates the gaps, uncertainties and defects in the scheme which it requires. The paper suggests changes to the text of the Proposal itself and, where appropriate, the way in which the existing text should be interpreted so as to take into account all the interests at stake. Among the more consumer-friendly rules, those on burden of proof, the validity of termination by notice by any means, and restitution of “counter-performances” after termination of the contract (with particular care being taken so as to allow the retrieval of digital content generated by consumers) are to be welcomed. On the other hand, the maximum harmonization which the Proposal requires poses difficult questions in relation to those rules which are in need of further clarification by the legislator, for example, whether a consumer can terminate immediately (and claim limited damages) only in the case of any failure to supply, or whether the Proposal’s intention is that the very limited rule on the right to recover economic damage to the digital environment of the consumer precludes Member States from allowing the consumer to recover damages in respect of other types of damage. Furthermore, this paper argues that the aims of the Proposal would be better achieved if it provided a set of uniform rules on prescription with a long period, in the absence of a time limitation for liability of the supplier and for the reversal of the burden of proof. It criticises some legislative decisions that are definitely detrimental to certain legitimate interests of consumers in circumstances where a comparison with other legal rules and proposals would lead one to think that they should be better protected. In particular, the Proposal should include some legislative, objective and not just subsidiary standards or criteria on the reasonable expectations of consumers, instead of giving almost full priority to what the supplier unilaterally established in the contract. Moreover, termination should be granted to consumers immediately rather than putting this remedy at a secondary level, at least for cases of gross lack of conformity which completely frustrate the purpose of the contract from the beginning; in the absence of such a legal change, an interpretation of art. 12.5 is suggested to soften the requirements necessary for termination of the contract. Finally, the consumer should be entitled to withhold payment of any outstanding part of the price until the supplier has brought the digital content into conformity with the contract.
The public administration of the environment in Colombia is characterized by decentralized\n. Based on this form of organization , renewable natural resources are\norganized under criteria ecosystem unit subject to the territorial jurisdiction of the\nregional autonomous corporations CAR. The CAR is part of what in Colombia\nis called the National Environmental System, SINA, and although they are not\nsubject to administrative hierarchies by the Ministry of environment, discusses the\ntrue scope of its administrative autonomy. The discussion about the autonomy of\nthe CAR has created tensions between the central level and the decentralized level\nto the point of being necessary the intervention of the constitutional court to set\nlimits to the possibility for the Ministry to intervene in the proceedings of the CAR,\nand to define those competencies that the CAR can act autonomously.
This article discusses the importance of the Colombian decentralization process in recent decades as a central axis bearing the tax side: revenues and expenditures of central government and the local authorities. The author makes it clear that despite the advantages of this system in Colombia are multiple problems due to gaps in the regulation of various aspects of reality and especially in the field of finance, taxation and spending. In recent decades, decentralization has brought the phenomenon of overflow discharges from local authorities based on an unlimited autonomy, so the National Government, together with the Congress, has issued various rules to clean up finances at the central, regional and local levels.