Common Contracts

Smart contract: né smart, né contract

March 14th, 2020

• Filed
  March 14th, 2020

Abstract. Smart contracts, in spite of the name, are not contracts, but computer programs, already regulated by the Directive 2009/24/EC and by Italian copyright law. Under a different perspective, a smart contract is a document, or a thing that bears signs on it that we consider as evidence of a fact or a human act. Besides, being written in computer code, smart contracts are mostly not intel- ligible by the parties and therefore the content cannot be intended as an expression of their will. On the other hand, although it must be ruled out that smart contracts are contracts, it must be said that their execution, being the users identified by means of some digital signature, can allow the constitution, transfer, change, and termination of a legal relationship. In fact, they pose as the digital equivalent of common vending machines, traditionally traced back to the legal institute of the offer to the public, or among those means that allow conclusion of contracts without agreement.