ABSTRACT
At Fully Automated Bookstore (FAB), an array of technologies is embedded in the architecture of the store so that when customers enter, they are identified, the books that they select are itemised and displayed on the customer’s basket, and at the point of exit the price of the books is debited to the customer’s account. In an insightful discussion of blockchain and its many applications, Karen Yeung highlights three ways in which the law community might relate to the blockchain community. First, where the blockchain community challenges the authority of the law community, one can expect the relationship to be adversarial as the latter strives to assert its sovereignty; the pressure will be for technological code to yield to legal code. Second, where the technology seeks to complement or supplement the law, the relationship should be positive and supportive. Third, where the technology represents an alternative to the law the relationship is more complex and less predictable.
