4 ms·

It is theft, technical details are not relevant. Whether you jacked the car or you found it unlocked and keys inside it is still theft. The owners/ custodians

It is theft, technical details are not relevant. Whether you jacked the car or you found it unlocked and keys inside it is still theft. The owners/ custodians of the coins or of the program managing the coin did not intend for you to have the coins or actually transferred the coins to you. Even if they had a bug in their program that automatically transferred their coin to you and you didn't return it the law still generally considers that also as theft.

arrow7000 5y ago
Except if code is law then whatever the code permits is by definition allowed
- manquer 5y ago
  Code can be perhaps the contract. Contract is not the law. Contract law is only one part of the law. There are myriad reasons legal reasons actual contracts are voided and thrown out in court as unenforceable, no consideration, illegal actions or unilateral negotation or even unfair terms etc. You cannot have a legal contract which for murder for example.
- LittlePeter 5y ago
  Is "code is law" also valid in real life (TM)? It is quite catchy, "code is law". But law where? In some virtual crypto land?
  - xyst 5y ago
    well law is only as good as the enforcement. Possession of cannabis in the US is still a federal offense. But some states choose to prosecute them and others choose to ignore it and legalize it at the state level. Enforcement in this case is not LEOs but rather the smart contract that lives in the blockchain. Except there are no grey areas
xyst 5y ago
If an accused criminal can get their case dismissed because of a technical error (ie, rights not read to him/her, chain of custody broken, no warrant, …). Then why isn’t this exfiltration of coin using the code outlined in the smart contract the same thing? it’s the responsibility of the smart contract creator(s) to make sure all edge cases are covered and thorough exhaustive testing is performed.
- manquer 5y ago
  What you describe as technical error is procedural errors in the criminal justice system. The laws and principles of behind them always err on the side of accused rather than prosecution by design. A thousand guilty walk free rather than one innocent in prison(in principle) , mathematically criminal justice system is designed to reduce Type I ( False Positive) errors at the cost of increased Type II errors ( False Negative). Exfiltration of coin by a bug is not any way the same. Government made the mistake in your scenario and you are let go, in this the owner of the property made the "mistake" . It is no less a theft because someone kept the key to their house under the carpet and and you didn't have to "break in" literally .

arrow7000 5y ago

Except if code is law then whatever the code permits is by definition allowed

manquer 5y ago
Code can be perhaps the contract. Contract is not the law. Contract law is only one part of the law. There are myriad reasons legal reasons actual contracts are voided and thrown out in court as unenforceable, no consideration, illegal actions or unilateral negotation or even unfair terms etc. You cannot have a legal contract which for murder for example.
LittlePeter 5y ago
Is "code is law" also valid in real life (TM)? It is quite catchy, "code is law". But law where? In some virtual crypto land?
- xyst 5y ago
  well law is only as good as the enforcement. Possession of cannabis in the US is still a federal offense. But some states choose to prosecute them and others choose to ignore it and legalize it at the state level. Enforcement in this case is not LEOs but rather the smart contract that lives in the blockchain. Except there are no grey areas

xyst 5y ago

If an accused criminal can get their case dismissed because of a technical error (ie, rights not read to him/her, chain of custody broken, no warrant, …). Then why isn’t this exfiltration of coin using the code outlined in the smart contract the same thing? it’s the responsibility of the smart contract creator(s) to make sure all edge cases are covered and thorough exhaustive testing is performed.

manquer 5y ago
What you describe as technical error is procedural errors in the criminal justice system. The laws and principles of behind them always err on the side of accused rather than prosecution by design. A thousand guilty walk free rather than one innocent in prison(in principle) , mathematically criminal justice system is designed to reduce Type I ( False Positive) errors at the cost of increased Type II errors ( False Negative). Exfiltration of coin by a bug is not any way the same. Government made the mistake in your scenario and you are let go, in this the owner of the property made the "mistake" . It is no less a theft because someone kept the key to their house under the carpet and and you didn't have to "break in" literally .