• WHAT IS A DAO?
• HOW IT ALL STARTED
• OVERVIEW
• LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
• DAO PRINCIPLES

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LEGALLY DAO

BOTTOM UP

• digital currency -> regulation connected to payment
• smart contract -> enforcement of agreements, end of dispute payments

TOP DOWN

• reducing labour intensive processes
• reducing opportunities for corruption and abuse
• help combat the lack of trust in government

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BLOCKCHAIN AND THE LAW

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WHAT IS A DAO?

DAO

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An entity that lives on the internet and exists autonomously, but also heavily relies on hiring individuals to perform certain tasks that the automaton itself cannot do.

(Vitalik Buterin, 6 May 2014)

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DAO

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Corporation running on the digital jurisdiction.

(Yalda Mousavinia)

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DAO

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The most complex form of a smart contract, where the bylaws of the decentralized organization are embedded into the code of the smart contract, using complex token governance rules.

(Blockchain Hub)

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DAO

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An organization that was designed to be automated and decentralized.

(Investopedia)

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DAO

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A fancy way of saying a digital system living on Ethereum.

(Richard Burton, Balance)

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DAO

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An organization that runs autonomously, in a decentralized manner, that functions without the need for centralized parties to make decisions for the organization to grow, to be profitable, or *physically* exist to serve its overall purpose. A DAO can be an on-chain contract, or a series of on-chain contracts that interoperate to complete some greater organizational function.

(Steven McKie)

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DAO

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A DAO means a smart-contract based heterarchical, distributed and trustless network that operates according to transparent and stakeholder-governed rules on a permissionless blockchain.

(COALA)

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DAO ELEMENTS

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• decentralisation

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• 5 levels of automatisation

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• organization vs. legal entity

WHY A DAO?

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• activism
• future of work
• do-ocracy
• distribution of power
• globalisation
• efficiency
• automatisation
• distributed governance
• improving decision making

HOW DID IT ALL START?

GOVERNANCE

The process by which we coordinate to make decisions, including the process of establishing, maintaining and revoking the legitimacy of decisions and decision making processes, norms, and principles.

(Vlad Zamfir)

DAO Incubator

Creating more successful DAO pilots, through research, experiments and incubation

REFLECTION

HOW THE BLOCKCHAIN CAN BE IMPACTED

• internet
• new intermediaries - exchanges
• mining pools - identifiable intermediaries
• targeting the end users
• 51% attack
• market manipulation
• blockchain neutrality
• social norms

UBI SOCIETAS, IBI IUS

HISTORY OF LAW

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Hammurabi Code

Roman Law

Nation States

Common Law System

Continental System

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LEGAL COMPLEXITY - LEGAL UNCERTAINTY

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We have now 193 Nation States in the UN.

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But there is more than 275 jurisdictions on the planet.

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We have more than 40.000 legal acts, 15.000 court verdicts and 62.000 international standards in EU alone.

LAW IS RIGID

The more laws we have, the less justice there is.

- Marcus Tillius Cicero

LEGAL DOMAINS

CLASSICS

EARTH WATER AIR

NEW AGE

SPACE VIRTUAL

DAO AND THE LEGAL SYSTEM

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• incorporation
• raising funding
• nature of the token
• identity
• labour laws
• taxation
• banking law
• industry / activities of the DAO

• establishing basic principles
• how can we limit the liability of those participating in the DAO vis-a-vis third parties?
• international approach to this issue?
• Lex Mercatoria analogy

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LEX DAO

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• what do we need it for?
• who is it for? (participants/assets/third parties?)
• liability
• what kind of law it is?
• sources of the law?
• customary law?
• Erga omnes effect?

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LEX DAO

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THANK YOU!

QUESTIONS AND UPDATES

MARINA MARKEŽIČ ANJA BLAJ