smart-contracts

This chapter introduces the regulatory challenges posed by decentralized, blockchain-based systems, tracing their origins to the cypherpunk vision of crypto anarchy. It explains how blockchains operate as tamper-resistant, decentralized databases enabling pseudonymous economic transactions and autonomous smart contracts, while highlighting their potential to disrupt traditional legal, financial, and governmental frameworks. The chapter emphasizes the dual-use nature of blockchain technology, which can both support lawful services and facilitate illicit activities, thus complicating regulatory efforts.

The chapter explores how data cooperatives can empower artists and musicians in the gig economy by collectively managing their creation metadata and rights within a decentralized digital music ecosystem. It proposes a layered architecture featuring an open-access music metadata layer with authoritative, digitally signed metadata files notarized via distributed ledger technology, enabling transparent licensing and royalty management through smart contracts. The chapter emphasizes the role of data cooperatives in providing fiduciary management of personal data and digital assets, fostering trust, interoperability, and equitable participation in the evolving music industry.