The blockchain triggers significant issues in terms of validity of smart contracts entered through it, ownership of intellectual property rights, privacy law compliance as well as liability and jurisdiction issues. How shall such issues be sorted?

1. The legal challenges of the blockchain
Giulio Coraggio
Head of Technology Sector
DLA Piper

2. We will not discuss about bitcoin…

3. $ 17K in Dec 2017
$ 3.2K in Dec 2018

5. Even with the blockchain, things might go “wrong”

6. Who is liable?
it depends…

7. ALLOW
FORBID
Permissioned vs Permissionless
Blockchains
What liability regime?
Disseminated
contributory
liability?
users
Centralised liability?
provider

8. What is a smart contract?

9. How does a smart contract work?

10. Is a smart contract a valid contract?
• Agreement between the parties (offer/acceptance)
• Subject of the contract
• Purpose of the contract
• Form of the contract

11. he “Italian” blockchain and smart contrac
Tecnologie basate su registri distribuiti
Smart contract
un programma per elaboratore che opera su tecnologie basate su registri
distribuiti e la cui esecuzione vincola automaticamente due o più parti
sulla base di effetti predefiniti dalle stesse. Gli smart contract
soddisfano il requisito della forma scritta previa identificazione
informatica delle parti interessate, attraverso un processo avente i
requisiti fissati dall'Agenzia per l'Italia digitale
orizzazione di un documento informatico attraverso l'uso di tecnologie basate su reg
distribuiti produce gli effetti giuridici della validazione temporale elettronica
tecnologie e i protocolli informatici che usano un registro condiviso, distribuito, repli
essibile simultaneamente, architetturalmente decentralizzato su basi crittografic
a consentire la registrazione, la convalida, l'aggiornamento e l'archiviazione di dati
chiaro che ulteriormente protetti da crittografia verificabili da ciascun partecipante, n
alterabili e non modificabili.”

12. ALLOW
FORBID
Permissioned vs Permissionless
Blockchains
If this is not done properly…
Disseminated
contributory
liability?
users
provider
Centralised liability?

13. Filling in the “gaps” of the blockchain
governing law and jurisdiction
clause,
but what about compliance?
how to handle SLAs and liability in
B2B, but also in B2C (unfair
clauses)?

14. What intellectual property in/on the
blockchain?
What IP rights in
the technology?
How IP rights
can be
tracked?
What rights on
the contents?
What happens
in case of exit?
What issues
in case of due diligence?

15. What privacy compliance dilemmas
for the blockchain?
01What are personal data?
02
Who is the data controller?
Who is the data processor?
03
04
What principles of
privacy compliance?
Can the right to be
forgotten exercised?
05
06
What are the required
security measures?

16. ALLOW
FORBID
Permissioned vs Permissionless
Blockchains
What liability regime?
Disseminated
contributory
liability?
users
Centralised liability?
provider

17. Which blockchain shall be used?
permissioned vs permissionless
FASTER
CONTROLLABLE/PRIVATE
PRIVATE MEMBERSHIP
LEGALITY
SLOWER
PUBLIC OWNERSHIP
OPEN AND
TRANSPARENT
AT RISK OF
ILLEGALITY
MORESECURE

19. Giulio Coraggio
Head of Technology Sector
DLA Piper
Any thoughts?