| CODE | MCT5014 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Blockchain, Distributed Ledger Technologies and the Law | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Media, Communications & Technology Law | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Blockchain is a unique technological development. While the internet has decentralized the way informational goods are produced, disseminated and consumed, blockchain represents the next technological step, decentralising key economic activities that for many centuries have been considered to be the priviledge of fixed and predetermined intermediaries. If the internet has set information free, blockchain has set value free, namely it has digitilized and, at the same time, decentralized the production, dissemination, acquisition and management of economic assets. At the same time, blockchain is a new socioeconomic example of how to create trust between social actors that do not necessarily trust each other. By opening up and, in certain ways, automating the process of creating trust, blockchain is something more than the underlying technology behind cryptocurrencies. It is, potentially, a technology that can revolutionize the functioning of certain democratic processes (including the administration of justice), the way we socialize and conduct business. Despite being at the early stages of its development and adoption, the potential of the technology is evident; the creation of Ethereum, which currently represents the most ambitious blockchain based platform, has been a key moment in the development of blockchain technologies. While bitcoin is a limited application only relevant within the financial industry, Ethereum provides the ground for a general adoption and application of blockchain. It showcases that blockchain can become a general purpose digital technology that can inflitrate different social structures. The potential for wide adoption comes, nonetheless, with an inherent problem: the problem of clashes of interests and, eventually, the creation of a suitable legal and regulatory environment that will not stifle the innovative potential of blockchain, while, at the same time, making sure that core social values will remain intact. This study-unit takes up the legal and regulatory challenges posed by blockchain based applications and prepares students to adequately tackle existing problems while, at the same time, offers students key insights that will allow them to adapt to future developments. Study-Unit Aims: The aim of this study-unit is to provide students with an advanced appraisal and detailed analysis of the legal and regulatory challenges of blockchain technologies. Starting with an introduction to the technological background of blockchain, the study-unit presents and thoroughly examines all the major legal problems related to the widespread application of blockchain technologies. The approach will necessarily be a European one, as blockchain operates, by definition, in a crossborder manner, but key national developments will also be part of the teaching portfolio. Through dedicated lectures on the specific fields of law affected by blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies, the students will have the chance to specialize and obtain key insights into the legal and regulatory challenges created by blochchain and distributed ledger technologies. The study-unit aims to provide students with future proof and structured legal knowledge that will not only allow them to process and resolve current legal problems, but also equip them to be at the forefront of the upcoming legal revolution encited by the new architecture of trust embeded in blockchain technologies. The main contents of the study-unit could be summarized in the following sentences: - Smart contracts and the law; - Data privacy and Data protection challenges posed by blockchain technologies; - Copyright Law and blockchain; - Competition Law and blockchain; - Cybercriminality, blockchain and the law; - Legal issues related to NFT's (non fungible tokens); - Blockchain and property law; - Blockchain and dispute resolution. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Investigate the legal and regulatory problems related to blockchain - Analyse the affected fields of law - Critically appraise the legal and regulatory discussions and legislative initiatives related to blockchain technologies 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Perform specialized legal analysis of blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies - Identify, interpret and adapt existing legislation with the aim to meet the unique legal and regulatory challenges posed by blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies - Critically appraise and assess existing and upcoming case law related to the legal challenges of blockchain - Perform advanced and informed legal analysis of blockchain based applications Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Wehrbach K., The Blockchain and the New Architecture of Trust (The MIT Press 2018). - De Fillipi P., Wright A, Blockchain and the Law (Harvard University Press 2018). - Herian R., Regulating Blockchain - Critical Perspectives in Law and Technology (Routledge 2019). - Finck M., Blockchain Regulation and Governance in Europe (Cambridge University Press 2019). - Szostek D., Blockchain and the Law (Nomos 2019). - Artzt M., Richter T., Handbook of Blockchain Law (Wolters Kluwer 2020). - Schrepel Thibault, Blockchain + Antitrust: The Decentralization Formula (Edward Elgar 2021) Supplementary Readings: - Sklaroff J., Smart contracts and the cost of inflexibility, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 2017, p. 263-303. - Wirth, Christian; Kolain, Michael (2018), Privacy by BlockChain Design: A Blockcchain-enabled GDPR-compliant Approach for Handling Personal Data. In: W. Prinz & P. Hoschka (Eds.), Proceedings of the 1st ERCIM Blockchain Workshop 2018, Reports of the European Society for Socially Embedded Technologies, available for download at https://dl.eusset.eu/bitstream/20.500.12015/3159/1/blockchain2018_03.pdf. - Commission Nationale Informatique & Libertes (CNIL), Blockchain-Solutions for a responsible use of the blockchain in the context of personal data available for download at https://www.cnil.fr/en/blockchain-and-gdpr-solutions-responsible-use-blockchain-context-personal-data. - Fairfield J. (2021), Tokenized: The Law of Non-Fungible Tokens and Unique Digital Property available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3821102. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Independent Study | |||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Ioannis Revolidis (Co-ord.) Mireille-Martine Sant |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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