Standard form contracts and a smart contract future

With a budding market of widespread smart contract implementation on the horizon, there is much conversation about how to regulate this new technology. Discourse on standard form contracts (SFCs) and how they have been adopted in a digital environment is useful toward predicting how smart contracts...

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Main Author: Kristin B. Cornelius
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society 2018-05-01
Series:Internet Policy Review
Subjects:
Online Access:https://policyreview.info/node/790
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author Kristin B. Cornelius
author_facet Kristin B. Cornelius
author_sort Kristin B. Cornelius
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description With a budding market of widespread smart contract implementation on the horizon, there is much conversation about how to regulate this new technology. Discourse on standard form contracts (SFCs) and how they have been adopted in a digital environment is useful toward predicting how smart contracts might be interpreted. This essay provides a critical review of the discourse surrounding digitised SFCs and applies it to issues in smart contract regulation. An exploration of the literature surrounding specific instances SFCs finds that it lacks a close examination of the textual and documentary aspects of SFCs, which are particularly important in a digital environment as a shift in medium prompts a different procedural process. Instead, common perspectives are either based on outdated notions of paper versions of these contracts or on ideologies of industry and business that do not sufficiently address the needs of consumers/users in the digital age. Most importantly, noting the failure of contract law to address the inequities of SFCs in this environment can help prevent them from being codified further with smart contracts.
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spelling doaj-art-630ed4ed7db844b19fe751d27fb837872025-08-20T02:46:43ZengAlexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and SocietyInternet Policy Review2197-67752018-05-017210.14763/2018.2.790Standard form contracts and a smart contract futureKristin B. Cornelius0University of California, Los AngelesWith a budding market of widespread smart contract implementation on the horizon, there is much conversation about how to regulate this new technology. Discourse on standard form contracts (SFCs) and how they have been adopted in a digital environment is useful toward predicting how smart contracts might be interpreted. This essay provides a critical review of the discourse surrounding digitised SFCs and applies it to issues in smart contract regulation. An exploration of the literature surrounding specific instances SFCs finds that it lacks a close examination of the textual and documentary aspects of SFCs, which are particularly important in a digital environment as a shift in medium prompts a different procedural process. Instead, common perspectives are either based on outdated notions of paper versions of these contracts or on ideologies of industry and business that do not sufficiently address the needs of consumers/users in the digital age. Most importantly, noting the failure of contract law to address the inequities of SFCs in this environment can help prevent them from being codified further with smart contracts.https://policyreview.info/node/790Standard form contractsTerms of Service (TOS)Smart contracts
spellingShingle Kristin B. Cornelius
Standard form contracts and a smart contract future
Internet Policy Review
Standard form contracts
Terms of Service (TOS)
Smart contracts
title Standard form contracts and a smart contract future
title_full Standard form contracts and a smart contract future
title_fullStr Standard form contracts and a smart contract future
title_full_unstemmed Standard form contracts and a smart contract future
title_short Standard form contracts and a smart contract future
title_sort standard form contracts and a smart contract future
topic Standard form contracts
Terms of Service (TOS)
Smart contracts
url https://policyreview.info/node/790
work_keys_str_mv AT kristinbcornelius standardformcontractsandasmartcontractfuture