Earlier this month, Illinois Senator Robert Peters introduced a bill called the Digital Property Protection and Enforcement Act that would allow transactions on the blockchain to be modified or canceled by court order.. The Court may make this decision at the request of the Attorney General or State Attorney.. The law will apply to any blockchain network that carries out a transaction within the state. For each day that the court order is not enforced, blockchain miners and validators can be fined between $5,000 and $10,000.
Drew Hinkes, Florida lawyer drew attention to the document.. He called it the most dysfunctional state law related to blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Hinks tweeted that the state of Illinois has always been a proponent of innovation, but this initiative will be a reversal.
Lawyer acknowledges need for consumer protection, but node operators won’t be able to comply with bill proposed by Senator Peters. Otherwise, they will face new criminal and civil liability for fear of imposing a fine.. Hincks is also astonished that validators who fail to take reasonable steps to enforce the judgment will not be able to claim their rights.
“Get ready to illinoize your blockchain! Yes, the state of Illinois will force you to rewrite the blockchain, in particular, to include in the smart contract the code that will ensure the execution of the court order. And if you don’t, you can be sued, ”Hinks ironically.
The crypto community also laughed at the Peters bill. Users found it amusing that the court ordered transactions to be altered in some way without the need for the participants’ private key. Many wonder why politicians propose such bills without understanding how the technology works. Immutability is a key feature of blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT), and there is no enforcement mechanism that can be invoked by the courts.
The bill has already passed the first reading. In order for it to be submitted to Illinois Gov. Jay Pritzker for signing, the initiative must receive support from lawmakers on three readings. If the law is approved, it will enter into force in 30 days.
Recall that in 2020, the state of Illinois recognized the legal force of smart contracts and records in the blockchain. This means that smart contracts can be used as evidence in court and be considered an alternative to paper documents.