What's Next: Is Blockchain Over-Hyped? | Legal Ethics, Meet Legal Tech | Smart Sex Contracts | Law.com
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Watch This Space: The Smart Contracts Are Coming
You might remember me writing about the Cardozo Law School’s Blockchain Project and its critical response to the “SAFT”—a framework drawn up by Cooley and Protocol Labs for navigating securities laws when conducting an initial coin offering (more on ICOs below).
While here in New York, I took the opportunity to catch up with the director of the project, Aaron Wright, and learn a little more about his work. In a special edition of my Unprecedented podcast, Wright tells me Cardozo has helped with the legal aspects some of blockchain’s major players, like Ethereum, and is also offering courses to students beyond your typical law school offerings, such as teaching them how to code smart contracts.
While acknowledging there’s a lot of hype around blockchain, crypto and related tech right now, he says: “Like all hype, there’s a grain of truth in it.” “I think what’s interesting about blockchain technology and also how it interacts with the legal profession is—really for the first time in quite a while—we have the opportunity to reflect and think about how we engage in commerce,” he adds.
“ A lot like how Bitcoin and Ethereum and these other projects have forced us to reexamine how value gets transferred, [blockchain technology] is also going to force lawyers to think about how they actually construct their commercial relationships, for their clients and for society at large.” Listen to the full interview here, or through Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or Libsyn.
Wright also has a new book coming out this spring co-authored by Primavera De Filippi of Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center called “Blockchain and the Law:
The Rule of Code.” >> Think Ahead:
This is all about a shift away from the ambiguity of natural language and toward a faith in the absoluteness of computer code. It’s also about the future of the internet; if you haven’t already, go read Steven Johnson’s recent article in The New York Times Magazine.
On the Radar: 3 Things to Know
1. Sunday was Data Privacy Day. Facebook celebrated by giving users more of a glimpse at how their data is used—and an additional degree of control.
● Facebook is launching a new “education campaign” that will push videos into users’ news feeds with information about how they can manage their privacy. It also published seven “privacy principles” about how it uses the data it gathers.
● “We recognize that people use Facebook to connect, but not everyone wants to share everything with everyone–including with us,” Facebook Chief Privacy Office Erin Egan wrote. “It’s important that you have choices when it comes to how your data is used.” >> Takeaway:
“In truth it’s just cribbing chunks of the GDPR and claiming the regulation’s principles as its own.
So full marks for spin there,” writes TechCrunch’s Natasha Lomas. 2. Japan was one of the first governments to embrace cryptocurrency. Now it’s turning a sharp eye to crypto exchanges.
● After the theft of $530 million in “NEM” coins” from the Coincheck exchange in Tokyo, local authorities said Monday they would investigate all cryptocurrency exchanges in the country for security gaps, Reuters reports.
● Japan last year “became the first country to regulate exchanges at the national level—a move that won praise for boosting innovation and protecting consumers, contrasting sharply with crackdowns in South Korea and China,” it adds. >> Takeaway:
Amid a lot of hype around the strength of blockchain, this is another reminder that the technology isn’t secure by default. 3. The Securities and Exchange Commission is not letting up any time soon on ICOs.
● First PlexCoin, then Munchee, now AriseBank. The SEC on Tuesday announced it had obtained a court order halting an allegedly fraudulent ICO targeting retail investors to fund what it claimed to be the world’s first ”decentralized bank.”
● The action, filed in federal court in Dallas, alleges that the individual behind AriseBank falsely stated that it purchased an FDIC-insured bank, enabling customers the ability to obtain VISA cards to spend any of the many hundreds of cryptocurrencies. >> Think Ahead:
The SEC seems to now be focusing mainly on stopping outright fraud, but it’s also eyeing professionals—including lawyers serving as “gatekeepers” in facilitating otherwise legitimate ICOs that may not comply with security laws.
“My caution in using this term is that it brings to mind Skynet.” — Catherine Krow of Directory Legal talking at Legalweek’s workshop on “The Foundation of AI and Machine Learning” about her aversion to saying “artificial intelligence.” Check out my Twitter thread from the panel to get some of the highlights.
In Futuro: Robolawyer Ethics
Here at the LegalTech panel on the “Rise of the Robolawyer,” I asked Martin Tully, who just formed the tech-focused Actuate Law, about whether lawyers actually have an ethical duty to use new analytical tools and other technology for their clients.
His answer: Yes. (Longer answer: as long as it makes sense for the case.) He noted that states like Florida now require lawyers to take regular technology training to help ensure they’re up-to-speed. Tully, who’s based in Chicago, gave this example:
Imagine preparing a brief for the Seventh Circuit for a client and not checking it using Lexis or Westlaw (or another legal research service). “I would be fired,” he said. It’s not a far stretch, Tully added, to apply that same kind of thinking to the newer technology-assisted review and machine learning tools.
HB Gordon, who manages e-discovery at Teva Pharmaceuticals, put some of the onus on attorneys to “push back on colleges and education institutions that are preparing the lawyers of the future to make sure the lawyers are educated right from the get-go.”
Dose of Dystopia
Elie Mystal at Above the Law had about the same reaction I did to the roll-out of a software tool that purports to memorialize consent for sex: What the …?! But more to the point, Mystal talks about how this could actually be “weaponized” against women who become victims of sexual assault.
Side note: the company that is launching “LegalFling”—LegalThings—is the same one that’s building out a tool to more efficiently process low-level criminal offenders. “My concern is that explicit consent, memorialized by blockchain, creates a period of time when consent cannot functionally be revoked. Women have a hard enough time ‘proving’ date rape as it is.
What police officer (much less stupid freaking JURY) is going to hold a man responsible if he’s holding a smart contract in his hand?” He sums up: “Sex contracts are fraught with danger, especially sex contracts that purport to be a perfect snapshot of the entire agreement.” Thanks for reading, and keep plugged in with What’s Next.
Ben Hancock
Ben Hancock is a San Francisco-based reporter covering litigation, technology, finance, and the future of law. He writes a weekly news briefing covering those topics called "What's Next." Ben can be reached via email at [email protected], or on Twitter: @benghancoc
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You
may be entitled to cryptocurrency tokens, offers and discounts at any
time in the future once you are a user on our platform.
You might remember me writing about the Cardozo Law School’s Blockchain Project and its critical response to the “SAFT”—a framework drawn up by Cooley and Protocol Labs for navigating securities laws when conducting an initial coin offering (more on ICOs below).
While here in New York, I took the opportunity to catch up with the director of the project, Aaron Wright, and learn a little more about his work. In a special edition of my Unprecedented podcast, Wright tells me Cardozo has helped with the legal aspects some of blockchain’s major players, like Ethereum, and is also offering courses to students beyond your typical law school offerings, such as teaching them how to code smart contracts.
While acknowledging there’s a lot of hype around blockchain, crypto and related tech right now, he says: “Like all hype, there’s a grain of truth in it.” “I think what’s interesting about blockchain technology and also how it interacts with the legal profession is—really for the first time in quite a while—we have the opportunity to reflect and think about how we engage in commerce,” he adds.
“ A lot like how Bitcoin and Ethereum and these other projects have forced us to reexamine how value gets transferred, [blockchain technology] is also going to force lawyers to think about how they actually construct their commercial relationships, for their clients and for society at large.” Listen to the full interview here, or through Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or Libsyn.
Wright also has a new book coming out this spring co-authored by Primavera De Filippi of Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center called “Blockchain and the Law:
The Rule of Code.” >> Think Ahead:
This is all about a shift away from the ambiguity of natural language and toward a faith in the absoluteness of computer code. It’s also about the future of the internet; if you haven’t already, go read Steven Johnson’s recent article in The New York Times Magazine.
On the Radar: 3 Things to Know
1. Sunday was Data Privacy Day. Facebook celebrated by giving users more of a glimpse at how their data is used—and an additional degree of control.
● Facebook is launching a new “education campaign” that will push videos into users’ news feeds with information about how they can manage their privacy. It also published seven “privacy principles” about how it uses the data it gathers.
● “We recognize that people use Facebook to connect, but not everyone wants to share everything with everyone–including with us,” Facebook Chief Privacy Office Erin Egan wrote. “It’s important that you have choices when it comes to how your data is used.” >> Takeaway:
“In truth it’s just cribbing chunks of the GDPR and claiming the regulation’s principles as its own.
So full marks for spin there,” writes TechCrunch’s Natasha Lomas. 2. Japan was one of the first governments to embrace cryptocurrency. Now it’s turning a sharp eye to crypto exchanges.
● After the theft of $530 million in “NEM” coins” from the Coincheck exchange in Tokyo, local authorities said Monday they would investigate all cryptocurrency exchanges in the country for security gaps, Reuters reports.
● Japan last year “became the first country to regulate exchanges at the national level—a move that won praise for boosting innovation and protecting consumers, contrasting sharply with crackdowns in South Korea and China,” it adds. >> Takeaway:
Amid a lot of hype around the strength of blockchain, this is another reminder that the technology isn’t secure by default. 3. The Securities and Exchange Commission is not letting up any time soon on ICOs.
● First PlexCoin, then Munchee, now AriseBank. The SEC on Tuesday announced it had obtained a court order halting an allegedly fraudulent ICO targeting retail investors to fund what it claimed to be the world’s first ”decentralized bank.”
● The action, filed in federal court in Dallas, alleges that the individual behind AriseBank falsely stated that it purchased an FDIC-insured bank, enabling customers the ability to obtain VISA cards to spend any of the many hundreds of cryptocurrencies. >> Think Ahead:
The SEC seems to now be focusing mainly on stopping outright fraud, but it’s also eyeing professionals—including lawyers serving as “gatekeepers” in facilitating otherwise legitimate ICOs that may not comply with security laws.
“My caution in using this term is that it brings to mind Skynet.” — Catherine Krow of Directory Legal talking at Legalweek’s workshop on “The Foundation of AI and Machine Learning” about her aversion to saying “artificial intelligence.” Check out my Twitter thread from the panel to get some of the highlights.
In Futuro: Robolawyer Ethics
Here at the LegalTech panel on the “Rise of the Robolawyer,” I asked Martin Tully, who just formed the tech-focused Actuate Law, about whether lawyers actually have an ethical duty to use new analytical tools and other technology for their clients.
His answer: Yes. (Longer answer: as long as it makes sense for the case.) He noted that states like Florida now require lawyers to take regular technology training to help ensure they’re up-to-speed. Tully, who’s based in Chicago, gave this example:
Imagine preparing a brief for the Seventh Circuit for a client and not checking it using Lexis or Westlaw (or another legal research service). “I would be fired,” he said. It’s not a far stretch, Tully added, to apply that same kind of thinking to the newer technology-assisted review and machine learning tools.
HB Gordon, who manages e-discovery at Teva Pharmaceuticals, put some of the onus on attorneys to “push back on colleges and education institutions that are preparing the lawyers of the future to make sure the lawyers are educated right from the get-go.”
Dose of Dystopia
Elie Mystal at Above the Law had about the same reaction I did to the roll-out of a software tool that purports to memorialize consent for sex: What the …?! But more to the point, Mystal talks about how this could actually be “weaponized” against women who become victims of sexual assault.
Side note: the company that is launching “LegalFling”—LegalThings—is the same one that’s building out a tool to more efficiently process low-level criminal offenders. “My concern is that explicit consent, memorialized by blockchain, creates a period of time when consent cannot functionally be revoked. Women have a hard enough time ‘proving’ date rape as it is.
What police officer (much less stupid freaking JURY) is going to hold a man responsible if he’s holding a smart contract in his hand?” He sums up: “Sex contracts are fraught with danger, especially sex contracts that purport to be a perfect snapshot of the entire agreement.” Thanks for reading, and keep plugged in with What’s Next.
Ben Hancock
Ben Hancock is a San Francisco-based reporter covering litigation, technology, finance, and the future of law. He writes a weekly news briefing covering those topics called "What's Next." Ben can be reached via email at [email protected], or on Twitter: @benghancoc
Help friends or someone you care about discover blockchain and
cryptocurrencies, by simply sharing this page. Don't keep it to yourself.....share Blockchain Company (BC).
Did You Know About This?
You can curate a Personal Blockchain Page right here on Blockchain Company ( BC ) like these 2 great user examples here:
http://www.blockchaincompany.info/Paula
http://www.blockchaincompany.info/Francisco
Show
your blockchain page off to your employer, colleagues and friends. It
demonstrates your professional awareness and competency of this
revolutionary paradigm changing the world. It's free if you are a
consumer user. Just Create your Account here in less than 3 mins!
Or
Click Create Account above in the upper right corner. Instructions how
to curate your blockchain page from information you discover on BC, is
sent in your email after you sign up.
You might be able to capture your ' first name " unique url for your blockchain page too! Like : http://www.blockchaincompany.info/robert
You
may be entitled to cryptocurrency tokens, offers and discounts at any
time in the future once you are a user on our platform.