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Watch This Space: The Smart Contracts Are Coming

writing about the Cardozo Law School's Blockchain Project  I took the opportunity to catch up with the director of the project, Aaron Wright, and learn a little more about his work. In a special edition of my Unprecedented podcast, Wright tells me "Like all hype, there's a grain of truth in it.” really for the first time in quite a while—we have the opportunity to reflect and think about how we engage in commerce, going to force lawyers to think about how they actually construct their commercial relationships, for their clients and for society at large.” Listen to the full interview here Apple Podcasts Google Play Libsyn >> Think Ahead: Steven Johnson's recent article The New York Times Magazine

On the Radar: 3 Things to Know

1. Sunday was Data Privacy Day. Facebook celebrated by giving users more of a glimpse at how their data is used—and an additional degree of control. Facebook is launching push videos into users' news feeds with information about how they can manage their privacy not everyone wants to share everything with everyone–including with us >> Takeaway:  TechCrunch's Natasha Lomas 2. Japan was one of the first governments to embrace cryptocurrency. Now it's turning a sharp eye to crypto exchanges. local authorities said Monday they would investigate all cryptocurrency exchanges in the country Reuters reports contrasting sharply with crackdowns in South Korea and China,” it adds. 3. The Securities and Exchange Commission is not letting up any time soon on ICOs. First PlexCoin, then Munchee, now AriseBank. announced AriseBank falsely stated that it purchased an FDIC-insured bank, enabling customers the ability to obtain VISA cards to spend any of the many hundreds of cryptocurrencies >> Think Ahead:  eyeing professionals

“My caution in using this term is that it brings to mind Skynet.”

— Catherine Krow of Directory Legal talking at Legalweek's workshop on “The Foundation of AI and Machine Learning” about her aversion to saying “artificial intelligence.” Check out my Twitter thread from the panel to get some of the highlights.

In Futuro: Robolawyer Ethics

Martin Tully, who just formed the tech-focused Actuate Law HB Gordon, who manages e-discovery at Teva Pharmaceuticals

Dose of Dystopia

had about the same reaction a software tool that purports to memorialize consent for sex building out a tool to more efficiently process low-level criminal offenders “My concern is that explicit consent, memorialized by blockchain, creates a period of time when consent cannot functionally be revoked. Women have a hard enough time 'proving' date rape as it is. What police officer (much less stupid freaking JURY) is going to hold a man responsible if he's holding a smart contract in his hand?” He sums up:

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