Durch den Erfolg von Kryptowährungen über die letzten Jahre ist auch das Interesse an der darunterliegenden Technologie gestiegen. Wissenschaftler aus verschiedensten Bereichen untersuchen, ob Blockchains für ihre Zwecke verwendet werden können. Dieses große Forschungsinteresse sorgt für schnelle Entwicklung und damit auch für rasche Veränderung. Dies hindert vor allem im kommerziellen Bereich die Adaption von Blockchains, da hohe Risiken mit der Wahl einer nicht zukunftsträchtigen Technologie verbunden sind. Ein Weg um die Adaption von Blockchain-Technologie voranzutreiben und das damit verbundene Risiko zu mindern, ist die Entwicklungsarbeit für verteilte Applikationen plattformunabhängig zu gestalten. Aus diesem Grund hat sich diese Arbeit das Ziel gesetzt zu zeigen, dass es möglich ist, Smart Contracts unabhängig von der darunterliegenden Plattform zu definieren und anzusprechen. Um dieses Ziel zu erreichen wurde die Ledger Access (LA) API entwickelt. Die LA API enthält ein Programmiermodell für Smart Contracts welches es ermöglicht, das Datenmodell, die Geschäftslogik und die Konsensregeln zu definieren. Die Ausführung eines solchen Kontraktes funktioniert über eine Abstraktion der Client APIs der unterstützten Plattformen. Ein universeller Kontrakt, welcher im Zielnetzwerk installiert ist, nimmt die Kommandos über die Client API entgegen und führt die gewünschte Transaktion aus. Es wurden zwei Plattform ausgewählt, welche stellvertretend für die breite Bandbreite und verfügbaren Plattformen stehen. Hyperledger Fabric und Corda sind beide beliebte Plattformen, welche zwar ähnliche Ziele verfolgen, sich allerdings in vielen Bereichen stark unterscheiden. Die Kompatibilität von LA API mit diesen beiden Plattformen zeigt, dass die LA API mit verschiedensten Plattformen verwendet werden kann. Zusätzlich wurde eine Referenz-Implementierung erstellt, welche anstatt einer Blockchain eine SQL-Datenbank als Datenspeicher verwendet. Die Referenz- Implementierung wurde verwendet, um die Plattform-Integrationen für Corda und Fabric zu evaluieren. Dabei wird davon ausgegangen, dass die Referenz-Implementierung immer das richtige Ergebnis liefert. Die Corda und Fabric Implementierungen müssen unter allen Umständen das gleiche Ergebnis liefern, um zu zeigen, dass sie korrekt implementiert wurden und die vorgegebenen Anforderung erfüllen. Es wurde eine Reihenfolge von Interaktionen definiert welche alle zuvor erhobenen Anforderungen abdecken. Diese Interaktionen wurden dann auf allen drei Plattformen (Referenz, Corda, Fabric) ausgeführt. Ein Vergleich der Ergebnisse hat ergeben, dass alle Implementierungen das gleiche Ergebnis liefern. Durch diesen Proof of Concept wurde bestätigt, dass plattformunabhängige Smart Contracts möglich sind.
Prozessgestaltung und -management spielen in der immer weiter voranschreitenden Digitalisierung und der damit verbundenen häufigeren Verwendung von Building Information Modelling im Bauwesen eine zentrale Rolle. Mit dieser Entwicklung kommen jedoch auch schon bestehende Herausforderungen wie z.B. die Nachvollziehbarkeit von Prozessen, Dokumentation der einzelnen Prozessschritte, sowie eine gesteigerte Transparenz der Abläufe zwischen den ProjektteilnehmernInnen stärker zu tragen. Die vorliegende Arbeit verbindet die in der Praxis stattfindenden Prozesse im Kontext der Planung eines Bauvorhabens und Building Information Modelling mit möglichen Anwendungsszenarien für Smart Contracts und Blockchain Technology. Dabei stehen die oben genannten Herausforderungen im Mittelpunkt, die auch die Leitlinie für diese Arbeit darstellen. Durch die Analyse von Einzelfallstudien werden zunächst praxisnahe Prozesse auf deren reelle Anforderungen geprüft und mit, aus der Literatur identifizierten, Anwendungsbereichen von Blockchain Technology und Smart Contracts abgeglichen. Mit den Ergebnissen dieses Abgleichs wird ein Framework für mögliche Formen der Implementierung von Smart Contracts und Blockchain Technology im Kontext von Planungsprozessen entwickelt. Im Mittelpunkt dieses Frameworks steht ein konzeptuelles Modell, welches diese neuen Technologien zusammenführt und etwaige Möglichkeiten und Vorteile, durch Nutzung derselben, aufzeigt. Dies soll als Basis für weitere Forschungen in diesem Bereich dienen.
With the exception of some well-funded industries, legal documents remain difficult and expensive to use, and prone to ambiguities. Emerging blockchain technologies hold the promise of changing this, however the tools for coding these 'smart contracts' require programmers and are prone to fraud. To fully realise the benefits of smart contracts, widespread adoption is required, which depends on improving security and replacing programmers with tools that lawyers, business-people and the general public can use. Our objective is to investigate improved approaches to the creation, testing and deployment of smart contracts by demonstrating that pure declarative languages can be used, and that these facilitate achieving improved utility in smart contracts. Our investigation implemented a 'Will and Testament' as a smart contract on a custom simulator, and demonstrated improved utility by auto-generating a smart contract from a status-quo user interface with an untrained user. We found a number of small benefits to using a declarative language like simplification, ease of code auto-generation and ease of testing. We have identified an approach to smart contract creation supportive of adoption because conversion starts with current legal contacts, is tolerant of varying levels of automation, and allows human-in-the-loop interaction. Smart contracts are seen as game changing by many, and should issues with cost, usability and security be solved, the economic impact is likely to be large.
The deployment of smart contracts within the European zone could fluidify economic transactions. It also risks fragmenting the Digital Single Market (“DSM”). This conundrum calls for a constructive response to preserve both the benefits brought by smart contracts and a strong DSM.
Against this background, this report adopts a “law + technology” approach. It suggests combining law and technology to develop solutions that encourage the evolution of smart contracts (rather than hindering it) in a direction that preserves and reinforces the DSM.
During this chapter I offer a brief account of technologies with legal education and present a case for the importance of studying technological effects on law. At the heart of that relationship is a tension between the latter (slowly) recognizing the unavoidability of the former in its future. The following discussion draws on aspects of my research on blockchains within Anglo-American common law jurisdictions, and my wider research on law, data, and technologies. Distributed ledger technologies (DLTs), of which blockchains are a species, are a form of ICT infrastructure used across commercial and civic sectors. The Bank of England explains the operation of DLTs as ‘a database architecture which enables the keeping and sharing of records in a distributed and decentralized way, while ensuring its integrity through the use of consensus-based validation protocols and cryptographic signatures.’ In reality, the bulk of present DLT use-cases involve financial services. These ‘ledgers’ are cryptographically secure databases for storing and recording novel forms of digital property (e.g. tokenized securities), relying on quasi-legal forms, chiefly ‘smart contracts’, to transact across networks without prejudice. Here I am interested in two aspects of DLTs. First, how DLTs and their stakeholders make use of and exert control over particular legal forms and vernacular (i.e. property, contracts, etc.). Second, how legal education, in providing the underpinnings for legal practice and helping to shape legal ideas, confronts and deals with technological phenomena such as DLTs to ensure the integrity of tomorrow’s lawyers and legal thinkers.
Technological innovations invariably lead to legal questions being raised; the sphere of digitalization of physical documents and securities by use of blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies does not constitute an exception. While solutions for many questions can be found within the existing legal framework, some developments call for legislative measures. This paper examines the hurdles in connection with the issuance and transfer of securities by virtue of a mere digital transaction and the approaches of the Liechtenstein and Swiss legislator to overcome them. Both have recognized that entries in distributed ledgers may fulfill the same main functions as the possession of a physical document. While the focus of the selective legal adaptations in Switzerland is on the use of DLT and securities law, the Liechtenstein legislator strives towards a holistic legal and regulatory framework for the entire token economy by introduction of a new set of rules.
Distributed ledger technology is a convenient mechanism supporting the trade of shares, and in certain jurisdictions it is also considered a valuable tool to maintain stock ledgers. Among the most notable examples are Delaware and Vermont. Nevertheless, similar legal provisions have also been enacted in Europe, in particular in Poland, where the national legislator explicitly allowed the use of distributed ledgers for the purposes of registering transactions regarding shares, inter alia by allowing the companies to conduct blockchain-based stock ledgers. This, however, leaves the door open to further problems, such as: (i) the application of smart contracts to transactions concerning shares, (ii) numerous questions arising in the area of the law of obligations (in particular concerning liability for losses incurred as a result of bugs in the code underlying the ledger). The aim of this chapter is to provide comparative legal analysis of the current state of affairs with respect to blockchain technology, as well as to present possible solutions of the aforementioned problems, with particular emphasis on the questions arising in the field of the law of obligations.
Ángel Alberto Varón Quimbayo, Yenny Marcela Mina Hinestroza
Esta investigación pretende presentar la forma como blockchain asocia el desarrollo de Contrato Inteligentes (Smart Contracts), a través de una nueva plataforma que relaciona aspectos éticos, legales, sociológicos y filosóficos que se consideran latentes. Los contratos inteligentes plantean un nuevo protocolo informático el cual garantiza el cumplimiento de cláusulas de un contrato automáticamente, generando una serie de derechos y obligaciones entre las partes intervinientes, actualmente existen varias plataformas para crear y gestionar este tipo de contratos, sin embargo la más recomendada es Ethereum que fue creada específicamente para Smart Contracts. Su objetivo enfoca en que se pueda utilizar en un gran número de servicios en sectores como servicios judiciales, salud, banca, inmobiliario, bolsa de valores entre otros, con la posibilidad de que surjan investigaciones para mejorar la forma cómo se ejecutan los contratos actualmente. en este artículo se describe qué es un contrato inteligente y como se realiza, Qué hace que un contrato sea inteligente, entre otros conceptos que nos ayudaran a entender a mayor profundidad teniendo encueta que el objetivo principal de los Smart Contracts, es mejorar el proceso y la ejecución de los contratos tradicionales, haciéndolos más seguros y económicos, para entender el funcionamiento de los contratos inteligentes es de suma importancia Identificar y analizar el funcionamiento y uso del blockchain ya que es una parte fundamental se basa en la infraestructura Ethereum para hacer posible la ejecución de contratos inteligentes, y como está a aportado y beneficiado la tecnología actualmente. En esta investigación se realizó una búsqueda de artículos científicos, donde se hizo una lectura crítica y analítica para poder emitir juicios de valor y poder construir el artículo, donde se obtuvo como resultado el análisis y la implementación del Smart Contract y cómo estos contribuyen a la promoción de los contratos en general y por último concluimos que los contratos inteligentes se expresan en códigos y que se ejecutan de forma automática, eliminando la necesidad de que existan intermediarios, ofreciendo seguridad y reducción de costes.
The fundamental question that this chapter aims to answer is whether traditional contract law has been challenged by the rise of smart contracts and, if so, in what manner. This chapter demonstrates that smart contracts are neither smart nor contracts in the legal sense. Smart contracts are rather a form of new technology that is used to secure the execution of promises established through a legal contract that contractual parties are using in line with the principle of freedom of contract. The discussion on smart contracts ask many more questions than it answers. This is still a new form of technology that is increasingly being used by businesses, but it remains to be seen how it fits in traditional contract laws. Smart contracts are not yet sufficiently tested and assessed, especially before the courts, and it is interesting to see what kind of answers case law will provide in the future. When it comes to the enforceability of smart contracts, that does not yet seem to be problematic as they are to be understood in line with the principle of freedom of contract.
Abstract Legal standardization traditionally played an important role in contractual relations. With technological and commercial development and expansion of trade from the individual and collective levels to internationalization, it became necessary to create a set of standards to keep pace with this development and facilitate the contractual process. Although smart contracts are considered a leap in the contractual relationship, it cannot be overlooked that these contracts share many characteristics with traditional contracts. To gain a greater position in the global market, smart contracts also need to be well functioning and efficient. In this context, the article tackles the phenomenon of legal standardization and identifies the main weaknesses of smart contracts—to answer two crucial questions: how can these contracts be smarter, and how should we employ standardization to ensure their efficiency?
En este trabajo se propone el análisis de dos realidades que están condenadas a entenderse, además forzosamente de manera absolutamente armónica: las pujantes nuevas tecnologías, personificadas a los efectos buscados en la blockchain y los denominados smart contracts, de un lado, y el sistema de derecho contractual, que se inserta con tanta solera histórica en nuestro ordenamiento jurídico y que tantos cambios ha venido experimentando para adaptarse fehacientemente a la realidad social contemporánea y las problemáticas que gesta en su ámbito material, de otro. Se trata de exponer, rápidamente, la primera de esas vertientes para comprobar, posteriormente, si cuenta con un engarce pacífico con la segunda y su imperativa fuerza normativa. En su caso, se reflexionará sobre la necesidad de adaptar ese complejo normativo a las innovaciones tecnológicas, habida cuenta de que en las mismas va a producirse el fenómeno de la contratación, sirviéndose de ellas y sus ventajas, procurando que no faciliten abusos o desafueros.
A contract written in natural language describes the parties’ rights and obligations. It cannot, however, ‘do’ anything. It produces legal not physical effects. Traditional contracts do not instruct computers to perform any operations. Contracts expressed in code could. The question arises: can we convert contractual documents from being passive embodiments evidencing agreements into active files containing computer instructions? The ability to guarantee that contracts are performed as agreed, an idea underlying ‘smart contracts,’ depends on the ability to express obligations in code or, more specifically, on the ability of code to express obligations exactly as agreed. Not every obligation can, however, be encoded - be it due to its very nature or to the limited expressiveness of programming languages. Highlighting the interplay between form and substance, this paper presents the complexities involved in expressing contracts in code. Before contemplating the technical aspects of ‘smart contracts’ we must confront some preliminary questions: what are we trying to encode – and for what purpose? Can the entire contract be expressed in code? Should we focus on translating legal prose into code or on encoding specific tasks that serve to discharge obligations? This paper provides the groundwork for more ambitious projects in the area of ‘smart contracts.’
La figura del smart contract fue concebida a finales del siglo pasado, sin embargo, ha ido pasando desapercibida todos estos años hasta el desarrollo de la tecnología de la cadena de bloques (o blockchain) y, en especial, hasta el “boom” de las criptomonedas de finales de 2017. El desarrollo de aplicaciones de esta tecnología está incrementando y resulta necesario realizar un análisis de las consecuencias jurídicas que tiene su uso. De este modo, mediante este trabajo se trata de abordar su concepto, su naturaleza jurídica y se pretende analizar algunos de los posibles problemas jurídicos derivados de su uso para así poder dar con algunas soluciones que hagan viable su estandarización en el Derecho contractual.
Contracts in which computerized protocols execute the terms—referred to as smart contracts1 —are being increasingly used. Especially, recent advancements in a blockchain have fueled the rapid growth of such contracts.2 Indeed, one of the most high-profile uses of a blockchain has been used in coding and processing smart contracts.
분산성, 보안성, 투명성을 특징으로 하는 블록체인 기술이 처음 소개된 이후 암호화폐를 필두로 사회･경제적으로 다양한 분야에서 블록체인 기술의 활용이 시도되고 있다. 특히 스마트계약은 최근 주목받고 있는 블록체인 기술의 응용영역 중 하나로서 우리 정부는 부동산거래에 블록체인 기술을 도입하는 방안을 추진하고 있다. 이 글은 사람들의 실생활에 직접적인 영향을 미치는 부동산 거래에 스마트계약을 도입할 때 발생할 수 있는 법적 쟁점 사항에 관해 살펴보았다. 먼저 스마트계약을 현행 민법의 적용이 가능한 계약의 범주에 포섭시킬 수 있는지 둘째, 포섭시키는 경우 관련 사안에서 계약법리의 적용여부를 검토하고 셋째, 부동산거래에 스마트계약을 도입하기 위해서는 블록체인의 특성상 부동산소유권의 디지털자산화(스마트자산화)가 이루어져야 하는데 이 경우 블록체인의 외부에 있는 부동산에 대해 물권변동과 점유를 어떻게 이전시킬 것인지, 즉 블록체인과 현실세계 사이의 간극을 어떻게 메울 것인지에 대해 다루었다.
JIPITEC 12 (2021) 2 - In this article, smart contracting meets Directive (EU) 2019/770 on certain aspects concerning contracts for the supply of digital content and digital services, and as the Directive (EU) 2019/771 regarding certain aspects of contracts for the sale of goods. Much has been written about smart contracting and the two directives. What has been missing, however, are contributions that explicitly address the question of whether the two directives are really “smart contracts ready”. The present article is intended to fill this gap and to serve as an incentive to take a closer look at this topic.
A smart contract is a technology that allows the creation of a negotiation process capable of running independently, without human intervention. This chapter intends to frame the figure of the “smart contract” from a legal point of view. It shows that the smart contract is an advanced tool in the context of a contractual relationship. The possibility of making a smart contract “the contract” in a legal meaning opens up scenarios which have hitherto been unexplored for contract law. It is still difficult to determine to what extent current rules are adequate to govern this phenomenon. The chapter will therefore conclude with a review of the strengths and weaknesses of the smart contract technology and with some suggestions for a future smart contract law.
Nir Kshetri, Hany Besada, Ravi Sharma, Diana Rojas-Torres
While blockchain applications are at a nascent stage of development in developing countries (referred to as “Southern countries” in this article), they are already having significant economic, political, and social impacts.1 Writing and implementing contracts are one area that is likely to benefit from blockchain. Specifically, smart contracts, which execute automatically when certain conditions are met, can address some of the deficiencies of existing problems associated with contract laws and their enforcement in Southern countries. In many cases, the real challenge is in the interpretation of the contract rather than the breach by a party. Often, an uncertainty about the meaning of the terms in a contract presents questions of interpretation.2 Since smart contracts are enforced by software codes, many of the interpretation-related problems are not likely to occur in such platforms. Among the major benefits, smart contracts can dramatically reduce costs associated with verification and enforcement. Other advantages include higher speed, precision, efficiency, and transparency. A key challenge in this is how Southern countries can benefit from blockchain and its potentially disruptive application in smart contracts. In this article, we attempt to assess the potential of blockchain-powered smart contracts in Southern economies vis-a`-vis traditional contracting mechanisms.
Blockchain ist mittlerweile schon quer durch die Gesellschaft fast jedem ein Begriff. Die Blockchain-Technologie, sprich was die Blockchain genau ist, wie sie aufgebaut ist und verwendet werden kann, ist hingegen für viele noch ein Mysterium. Smart Contracts sind Computerprogramme, die auf der Blockchain-Technologie basieren und diese Computerprogramme werden mit Programmiersprachen entwickelt. Stellt man sich die Frage, welche Programmiersprache man am Besten verwendet, so merkt man relativ schnell, dass die Auswahl an verfügbaren Programmiersprachen für Smart Contracts enorm groß ist und kontinuierlich größer wird.Diese Arbeit versucht die Frage zu klären, welche spezifischen Eigenschaften eine Sprache für die Entwicklung von Smart Contracts besitzen muss. Zuerst werden allgemeine Anforderungen an eine Sprache für die Entwicklung von Smart Contracts evaluiert. Im zweiten Schritt werden die identifizierten Anforderungen mit Spracheigenschaften in Beziehung gesetzt, damit geprüft werden kann, ob und inwieweit eine gewählte Programmiersprache für die Entwicklung von Smart Contracts geeignet ist.Mit den Erkenntnissen dieser Arbeit wird am Beispiel der Programmiersprache Solidity, welche als die de facto Standardsprache für Smart Contracts gilt, analysiert, wie geeignet die Sprache für die Entwicklung von Smart Contracts tatsächlich ist.
A contract generally only binds its parties. Security agreements, which create a security interest in specific personal property, stand out as a glaring exception to this rule. Under certain conditions, security interests not only bind the creditor and debtor, but also third-party creditors seeking to lend against the same collateral. To receive this extraordinary benefit, creditors must put the world on notice, usually by filing a financing statement with the state in which the debtor is located. Unfortunately, the Uniform Commercial Code (U.C.C.) Article 9 filing system fails to provide actual notice to interested parties and introduces risk of heavy financial losses. To solve this problem, this Article introduces a smart-contract-based U.C.C.-1 form built using Lexon, an innovative new programming language that enables the development of smart contracts in English. The proposed “Lexon U.C.C. Financing Statement” does much more than merely replicate the financing statement in digital form; it also performs several U.C.C. rules so that, for the first time, the filing system works as intended. In demonstrating that such a system remains compatible with existing law, the Lexon U.C.C. Financing Statement also reveals important lessons about the interaction of technology and commercial law. This Article brings cryptolaw to the U.C.C. in three parts. Part I examines the failure of the U.C.C. Article 9 filing system to achieve actual notice and argues that blockchain technology and smart contracts can help the system function as intended. Part II introduces the Lexon U.C.C. Financing Statement, demonstrating how the computer code implements U.C.C. provisions. Part II also examines the goals that influenced the design of the Lexon U.C.C. Financing Statement, discusses the new programming language used to build it, and argues that the prototype could be used now, under existing law. Part III proposes five innovations for the Article 9 filing system enabled by the Lexon U.C.C. Financing Statement. Part III then considers the broader implications of the project for commercial law, legal research around smart contracts, and the interplay between technology-neutral law and a lawyer’s increasingly important duty of technological competence. Ultimately, by providing the computer code needed to build the Lexon U.C.C. Financing Statement, this Article demonstrates not only that crypto-legal structures are possible, but that they can simplify the law and make it more accessible.
This chapter draws together few studies examining the views and perceptions of construction industry professionals. It aims to portray a sense of the underlying attitudes and the range of understanding towards smart contracts and information technology more generally. Smart contracts are deemed desirable because they will save cost and time in automating certain aspects of construction project performance while saving cost and time in transaction arrangements. The knowledge gap identified will necessitate a lengthy and costly education to ensure people fully understand the technology and its potential before considering adoption. The study is akin to taking the temperature of a patient during a health check. The responses captured a reflection of the industry. The importance of definitions in legal scholarship and contract writing is of great importance. The last reference to the application to manufacturing processes echoes the constraint about the vast scope of variables that would be experienced on a wider construction project.
A legal foundation to smart contracts is essential if smart contracts are to become mainstream. Investors will need to be able to be able to invoke legal remedies in appropriate circumstances so as to avoid foul play and ensure a dependable market. The smart contract also has the potential for built-in dispute resolution. The Delivery Panel&s;s findings were that confidence in smart contracts&s; legal position can be grown through legal developments and increasing standardisation. Smart contracts have been described as the "ultimate automation of trust". Trust is informed by a wide range of factors and derived from a variety of different sources. The moves towards standardisation in smart contracts emphasis the importance of how they are written, how they are enforced and how to ensure that the automated performance of a smart contract is faithful to the meaning of any relevant contractual documentation.
New technologies and private international law Abstract This thesis aims to explore the impact of new technologies on the field of private international law. In particular, it analyses the different legal areas that have been affected by digitalization and the challenges that arise as a result of this process in terms of how to regulate the issue from a legal perspective. The aim of the thesis is to analyse the existing legal framework with a focus on EU legislation and to assess its application to legal actions arising in the digital environment. The thesis also deals with the legal regulation of international trade and distributed ledger technology (blockchain) and its aspects in relation to private international law. Last but not least, the thesis analyses the development of the case law of the CJEU on the issue. The thesis discusses the principles of personality and territoriality in relation to the online environment and different perspectives on the grasp of this principle and the possibilities to locate legal actions on the Internet. The reader will be introduced to the case law of the CJEU, which over the years has dealt with the interpretation of each of the key institutes and their relevance in the online environment. However, the work also includes various divergent views of experts and theorists...