Eva R. Porras

By Eva R. Porras and Bryan Daugherty

Bitcoin came into existence as a peer-to-peer payment system for use on online transactions. This achievement was the result of a shared vision about the future relationship between governments’ control and citizenry, and the collaborative work of the many who contributed to the development of the cryptographic field. This innovation and its underlying technology, the blockchain, have been at the root of a change of paradigm, as the joint use of blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) seed the next technological revolution. However, as it is often the case, these revolutionary inventions have also been met with skepticism in the financial sector and society at large. Using the case of Bitcoin and the blockchain, this paper analyzes the intersection between the philosophy and technology underlying these innovations, and the outlook of a sector of society who fears these developments while others try to profit. In this chapter, we first look at the history of Bitcoin together with that of those behind it. We then review the mixed reception it obtained after coming to the market. We assess the innovations’ properties and confront these with the needs of a society eager to obtain further clarity and enjoy more transparency in matters of relevance to their participation in democratic processes.

Part of the book: Advances in the Convergence of Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence

By Eva R. Porras

This chapter reviews intellectual property (IP) concepts and developments whose outcomes impact the intellectual ownership of key aspects of blockchain technology. The players include governments, legislators, and law makers attempting to make sense of an opaque, impenetrable, and baffling technological and social environment where myth and reality blend. The interested parties are, on the one hand, the IP owners of blockchain-related technological developments and, on the other hand, late comers hoping to deny these rights to use the technology for free. At stake, there are billions of US dollars and the real capacity for a new industrial revolution. In the background, there is a world of spectators with an extremely unequal understanding of the technology. The chapter covers three general areas: an overview of blockchain technology, the use of blockchain technology for the management of IP rights and other intellectual property, and the situation of Intellectual Property rights in the blockchain sector. Focusing on specific developments, the author delves in what is at stake and its economic implications.

Part of the book: Intellectual Property