A hard fork in the road: developing an effective regulatory framework for public blockchains

IF 1.8 Q1 LAW

Information & Communications Technology Law Pub Date : 2021-07-27 DOI:10.1080/13600834.2021.1959729

Stephen Penzo, Niloufer Selvadurai

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引用次数: 2

Abstract

ABSTRACT Over the past decade, public blockchains have emerged as innovative, technology platforms capable of highly secure and sophisticated peer-to-peer online transmission of data between unknown parties. However, public blockchains challenge traditional regulatory models that assume centralised, single points of control facilitated via established intermediaries. In such a context, the present paper analyses the potential liability attaching to blockchain participants and considers how privacy laws apply to blockchain transactions, given the immutable nature of blockchain records. The paper then recommends reforms to strengthen blockchain regulation, including statutory recognition of fiduciary obligations for elite developers with super-user access to allow recourse for loss resulting from hard forks. A ‘hard fork’ is a radical change to a network’s protocol that leads to formerly valid blocks and transactions becoming invalid or vice-versa. Finally, the paper considers changes to privacy laws to permit ongoing consent and cross-border disclosure of data to accommodate blockchain operations.

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艰难的岔路口:为公共区块链制定有效的监管框架

摘要在过去的十年里，公共区块链已经成为一种创新的技术平台，能够在未知各方之间进行高度安全和复杂的点对点在线数据传输。然而，公共区块链挑战了传统的监管模式，这些模式假设通过已建立的中介机构实现集中、单一的控制点。在这种背景下，鉴于区块链记录的不可变性质，本文分析了区块链参与者的潜在责任，并考虑了隐私法如何适用于区块链交易。然后，该论文建议进行改革，以加强区块链监管，包括法定承认拥有超级用户访问权限的精英开发者的信托义务，以允许对硬分叉造成的损失进行追索。“硬分叉”是对网络协议的根本改变，导致以前有效的块和事务无效，反之亦然。最后，本文考虑修改隐私法，允许持续同意和跨境披露数据，以适应区块链操作。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Information & Communications Technology Law LAW-

CiteScore

3.10

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： The last decade has seen the introduction of computers and information technology at many levels of human transaction. Information technology (IT) is now used for data collation, in daily commercial transactions like transfer of funds, conclusion of contract, and complex diagnostic purposes in fields such as law, medicine and transport. The use of IT has expanded rapidly with the introduction of multimedia and the Internet. Any new technology inevitably raises a number of questions ranging from the legal to the ethical and the social. Information & Communications Technology Law covers topics such as: the implications of IT for legal processes and legal decision-making and related ethical and social issues.