1. Legal Measures by Blockchain on Electronic Transaction Law to emerging Digital Economy
Paramate Boonyanan Law School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
Background :
Thai electronic transaction law has been continuously amending to support the rapid ongoing development of technology. New legal knowledge in digital currencies and transactions needs to be constantly created for both public and private agencies as efficient tools to regulate the country's technological development and to prevent illegal transactions. The main discussion in this case is mainly about Blockchain or Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) that is a widely accepted public ledger distributed over a network that records transactions among network participants. Each transaction is verified by messages sent from one network node to another. A majority consensus mechanism has to be created before being added to the Blockchain. Recorded information cannot be changed or erased, and the history of each transaction can be re-created at any time.
Objective :
To introduce and evaluate the application of Blockchain technology on electronic transaction through a distributed ledger, a consensus protocol and a means of verifying transactions
Research Methodology :
This research presents the alternative technology mechanism to verify electronic transaction rules such as Blockchain or Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) based on legal document analysis including international legal from and online databases, articles and reports.
Electronic Transactions
Blockchain/ Distributed Ledger Technology (DTL)
Financial Transaction : Currencies, stocks, crowdfunds, bonds, mutual funds, derivatives pensions
Public records:
Land/property titles, vehicle registration, business license, business incorporation, criminal records, health inspections
Semi-public records: Degrees/certifi- cations/learning outcomes/
grades, human resources/ medical records
Private records: loans, contracts, signatures, wills , trusts
Identification: Driver licenses, identity cards, passport, voter registrations
Research Outcomes :
In order to support social and economic development and provide protection to the country's economy in the era of fast technological leap, Thailand law has to keep pace with rapid changes, awareness on threats and damages from non-transparent transactions has to be encouraged among government agencies. As a result, the applications of new legal knowledge to improve the governance structure for electronic transactions can be more successful.
For example, Thailand’s Electronic Transaction Law 2001, which came into effect on 15 April 2019, can be more effective to mitigate or eliminate obstacles to electronic transactions. It will also fully harmonise Thailand’s electronic transaction law with the United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts. In addition to the significantly positive practical impacts on the broad principles of contract law and court procedure in Thailand, changes to a number of more specific areas can also be seen including the more extensive application of E- signatures and digital invitations to offer.
However, this law does not cover a proposal that clearly indicates that parties intend to be bound by acceptance, for example, clickwrap (or software license) agreement commonly used by software providers. In case that Thai government wants to endorse electronic transaction based on Blockchain technology, contractual parties have to be bound by acceptance through software license agreement to gain ultimate trust and cooperation.
Acknowledgements:
Electronic Transaction Law 2001, amendment 2019 , Electronic Transaction Development Agency , Thailand
Digital Government Development Agency, Thailand , Deviantart.com
M. Mainelli and M. Smith, “Sharing Ledgers for Sharing Economies: An Exploration of Mutual Distributed Ledgers ( Blockchain Technology),” J. Financial Perspectives, report, vol. 3, no. 3, McKinsey & Company Report, 2015
M. Swan, Blockchain: Blueprint for a New Economy, vol. 3, no. 3, O'Reilly Media, 2015
Non-monetary Blockchain use cases and smart contracts by Dr. Garrick Hileman University of Cambridge, UK 2018
The Council of State, Thailand
To Blockchain or Not to Blockchain : That is the Question by Valentina Gatteschi, Fabrizio Lamberti, Claudio Demartini, Chiara Pranteda and Victor Satamaria , the IEEE Computer Society 2018