Ethics Concerning Blockchain Technology
Computer Sciences and Information Technology
Topic:
ETHICS CONCERNING BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY
Blockchain technology offers a robust alternative to traditional models of storage, being a decentralised ledger technology. The benefits are innumerable, including improved security, faster access and all this at a lower cost. However, these benefits come with the risk of introducing various ethical concerns. Among the most notable benefits of blockchain technology is the introduction of smart contracts which can be used to process insurance claims, party agreements and other business and legal contracts. They are however, designed by coders who may not necessarily have the legal expertise to do it. Many smart contracts, in fact, have no resemblance with mainstream legal contracts and would therefore prove to be difficult to enforce in the traditional legal setting (Ciccatelli, 2017).
Blockchain solutions transcend geographical boundaries and therefore raise the issue of jurisdiction. Various legal premises such as law of contract, procurement or title vary across jurisdictions. A singular transaction on the blockchain could fall on the jurisdiction(s) of each node. Reconciling the legal frameworks across all the countries in which there are network nodes would prove to be a difficult task. Therefore, it is essential to constitute a single governing legal framework for the entire network that will transcend across nations (Storino et al., 2017).
With blockchain, has come the advent of inanimate digital actors known as Decentralised Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). These entities are purely online and have the power to execute, enforce and enter into smart contracts. This raises the problem of what legal status to assign to these entities and the methods to enforce legal redress against them or for them. Governments will need to enforce regulations on blockchain, especially its applications in the financial sector (McKinlay et al., 2018).
References
Ciccatelli, A. (2017, November 21). Decrypting the Ethical Implications of Blockchain Technology. Retrieved from Cooperate Counsel: https://www.law.com/insidecounsel/sites/insidecounsel/2017/11/21/decrypting-the-ethical-implications-of-blockchain-technology/?slreturn=20180316053035
McKinlay, J., Pithouse, D., McGonagle, J., & Sanders, J. (2018, February 2017). Blockchain: background, challenges and legal issues. Retrieved from DLA Piper: https://www.dlapiper.com/en/uk/insights/publications/2017/06/blockchain-background-challenges-legal-issues/
Storino, J., Steffen, J., & Gordon, M. T. (2017). Decrypting the Ethical Implications of Blockchain Technology. Chicago: ALM Publishers.
