Blockchain and Web3: An Overview
Learn about the features and drawbacks of blockchain technology and Web3 from EFF's Senior Fellow of Decentralization, Ross Schulman. Understand how blockchain is a new data structure and its usefulness in various circumstances.
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Happening now: EFF’s Senior Fellow of Decentralization, @RossSchulman, to speak at @HouseCommerce Innovation, Data, and Commerce subcommittee hearing on Blockchain and Web3. https://t.co/jamCNQK6ZB
— EFF (@EFF) June 7, 2023 -
“Blockchains are, at their core, simply a new data structure. Like most technologies, they are not inherently good or evil. They are simply tools that provide particular features and have particular drawbacks.”
— EFF (@EFF) June 7, 2023 -
"[Blockchain features are] useful in more circumstances than blockchain’s detractors claim it is, but in many fewer situations than the past few years’ hype might lead one to believe."
— EFF (@EFF) June 7, 2023 -
"To the extent that there is privacy on the blockchain, it is because it has been “bolted on” after the fact [...] We must be very careful in assessing the use of blockchains in situations where personal data may be involved."
— EFF (@EFF) June 7, 2023 -
"It is also worth noting that regulation which targets the person who wrote a given piece of open source code, as opposed to those who take concrete action to cause harm, is bound to stifle innovation"
— EFF (@EFF) June 7, 2023 -
"It is nearly always more appropriate to regulate the harmful actions than the tools used. Thank you again chairman @cathymcmorris, @RepGusBilirakis, @FrankPallone, @janschakowsky, and members of the subcommittee for the opportunity to share EFF’s views on blockchain.”
— EFF (@EFF) June 7, 2023 -
The biggest issue for the FTC in the space is "not that they don’t know what to do, but that they don't have the necessary resources to do it” they need to “ hire the technical and legal experts it needs to properly investigate and prosecute those harms”
— EFF (@EFF) June 7, 2023 -
"[Blockchain] is not inherently private due to its transparent nature, though this can be improved [...] it also deals with issues of inefficiency, both in the cost of operating them and in the throughput of the networks themselves.”
— EFF (@EFF) June 7, 2023 -
“It may seem obvious but it’s important to say, nothing happens in the real world just because there was a change in the blockchain.”
— EFF (@EFF) June 7, 2023