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Cyphernomicon 16.19

Crypto Anarchy:
Privately Produced Law, Polycentric Law, Anarcho-Capitalism


  16.19.1. "my house, my rules"
  16.19.2. a la David Friedman
  16.19.3. markets for laws, Law Merchant
           - corporations, other organizations have their own local
              legal rules
           - Extropians had much debate on this, and various competing
              legal codes (as an experiment...not very sucessful, for
              various reasons)
           - "Snow Crash"
  16.19.4. the Cypherpunks group is itself a good example:
           - a few local rules (local to the group)
           - a few constraints by the host machine environment (toad,
              soda)
           + but is the list run on "United States law"?
             - with members in dozens of countries?
           - only when the external laws are involved (if one of us
              threatened another, and even then this is iffy) could the
              external laws....
           - benign neglect, by necessity
  16.19.5. I have absolutely no faith in the law when it comes to
            cyberspatial matters (other matters, too).
           - especially vis-a-vis things like remote access to files, a
              la the AA BBS case
           - "the law is an ass"
           - patch one area, another breaks
           - What then? Technology. Remailers, encryption
  16.19.6. Contracts and Cryptography
           + "How can contracts be enforced in crypto anarchy
              situations?"
             - A key question, and one which causes many people to
                question whether crypto anarchy can work at all.
             + First, think of how many situations are _already_
                essentially outside the scope of the law...and yet in
                which something akin to "contracts" are enforceable,
                albeit not via the legal process.
               - friends, relationships
               + personal preferences in food, books, movies, etc.
                 - what "recourse" does one have in cases where a meal
                    is unsatisfactory? Not going back to the restaurant
                    is usually the best recourse (this is also a hint
                    about the importance of "future expectation of
                    business" as a means of dealing with such things).
             - In these cases, the law is not directly involved. In
                fact, the law is not involved in _most_ human (and
                nonhuman!) interactions.
             + The Main Approaches:
               + Reputations.
                 - reputations are important, are not lightly to be
                    regarded
               - Repeat Business.
               - Escrow Services.
           + The "right of contract" (and the duty to adhere to them, to
              not try to change the contract after the facts) is a
              crucial building block.
             - Imagine a society in which contracts are valid. This
                allows those willing to sign contracts setting limits on
                malpractice to get cheaper health care, while those who
                won't sign such contracts are free to sue--but will of
                course have to pay more for health care. Nothing is free,
                and frivolous malpractice lawsuits have increased
                operating costs. (Recall the "psychic" who alleged that
                her psychic powers were lost after a CAT scan. A jury
                awarded her millions of dollars. Cf. Peter Huber's books
                on liability laws.)
             - Now imagine a society in which it is never clear if a
                contract is valid, or whether courts will overturn or
                amend a contract. This distorts the above analysis, and
                so hospitals, for example, have to build in safety
                margins and cushions.
           + Crypto can help by creating escrow or bonding accounts held
              by third parties--untraceable to the other parties--which
              act as bonding agents for completion of contracts.
             - Such arrangements may not be allowed. For example, a
                hospital which attempted to deal with such a bonding
                agency, and which asked customers to also deal with them,
                could face sanctions.
           - "Secured credit cards" are a current example: a person pays
              a reserve amount greater than the card limits (maybe 110%).
              The reason for doing this is not to obtain "credit,"
              obviously, but to be able to order items over the phone, or
              to avoid carrying cash. (The benefit is thus in the
              _channel_ of commerce).
  16.19.7. Ostracism, Banishment in Privately Produced Law
           + Voluntary and discretionary electronic communities also
              admit the easy possibility of banishment or ostracism
              (group-selected kill files). Of course, enforcement is
              generally difficult, e.g., there is nothing to stop
              individuals from continuing to communicate with the
              ostracized individual using secure methods.
             - I can imagine schemes in which software key escrow is
                used, but these seem overly complicated and intrusive.
             - The ability of individuals, and even subgroups, to thwart
                the ostracism is not at all a bad thing.
             -
           - "In an on-line world it would be much easier to enforce
              banishment or selective ostracism than in real life.
              Filtering agents could look for certificates from accepted
              enforcement agencies before letting messages through. Each
              user could have a set of agencies which were compatible
              with his principles, and another set of "outlaws".  You
              could even end up with the effect of multiple "logical
              subnets" of people who communicate with each other but not
              outside their subnet.  Some nets might respect intellectual
              property, others not, and so on." [Hal Finney, 1994-08-21]
  16.19.8. Governments, Cyberspaces, PPLs
           - Debate periodically flares up on the List about this topic.
           - Can't be convered here in sufficient detail.
           - Friedman, Benson, Stephenson's "Snow Crash," etc.
  16.19.9. No recourse in the courts with crypto-mediated systems
           - insulated from the courts
           - PPLs are essential
           - reputations, escrow, mediation (crypto-mediated mediation?)
 16.19.10. Fraud
           - not exactly rare in the non-crypto world!
           - new flavors of cons will likely arise
           - anonymous escrow accounts, debate with Hal Finney on this
              issue, etc.
 16.19.11. PPLs, polycentric law


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