Law Commons^™

Smart Contracts: Terminology, Technical Limitations And Real World Complexity, Eliza Mik

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

If one is to believe the popular press and many “technical writings,” blockchains create not only a perfect transactional environment but also obviate the need for banks, lawyers and courts. The latter will soon be replaced by smart contracts: unbiased and infallible computer programs that form, perform and enforce agreements. Predictions of future revolutions must, however, be distinguished from the harsh reality of the commercial marketplace and the technical limitations of blockchains. The fact that a technological solution is innovative and elegant need not imply that it is commercially useful or legally viable. Apart from attempting a terminological “clean-up” surrounding …

Cybercrime Deterrence And International Legislation: Evidence From Distributed Denial Of Service Attacks, Kai-Lung Hui, Seung Hyun Kim, Qiu-Hong Wang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper, we estimate the impact of enforcing the Convention on Cybercrime (COC) on deterring distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks. Our data set comprises a sample of real, random spoof-source DDOS attacks recorded in 106 countries in 177 days in the period 2004-2008. We find that enforcing the COC decreases DDOS attacks by at least 11.8 percent, but a similar deterrence effect does not exist if the enforcing countries make a reservation on international cooperation. We also find evidence of network and displacement effects in COC enforcement. Our findings imply attackers in cyberspace are rational, motivated by economic …

Making Sense Of Virtual Assets, Singapore Management University

Research@SMU: Connecting the Dots

Professor Kelvin Low’s research shows that the legal rights of people who own some intangible assets are sometimes remarkably ill-defined and poorly studied.

See the papers:

• Carbon credits as EU like it: Property, immunity, tragiCO2medy?
• Legal risks of owning cryptocurrencies

When Punches Fly In Cyberspace, Singapore Management University

Research@SMU: Connecting the Dots

Professor Gary Chan examines how legal practice has changed in response to the Internet and technology.

See his papers:

• Case Comment: Golden Season Pte Ltd and others v Kairos Singapore Holdings Pte Ltd and another [2015] SGHC 38
• Reputation and defamatory meaning on the Internet: Communications, contexts and communities;
• Defamation via hyperlinks: More than meets the eye

See his books:

• Tort of defamation before the Singapore Courts, 1965-2015: A comparative and empirical study
• The law of torts in Singapore
• Ethics and social responsibility: Asian and Western perspectives
• The legal system of Singapore: Institutions, principles and practices