Dr. Craig S. Wright, known in the cryptocurrency world for his claim as the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, has recently penned a thought-provoking piece on “Open-Source Development.” His involvement in blockchain technology lends significant credence to his insights into the realms of digital governance and legal structures in cyberspace.
At the core of Dr. Wright’s blog post is Lawrence Lessig’s “Code is Law” principle, formulated in 2000. This principle posits that the architecture of cyberspace, determined by its software and hardware, inherently governs user behavior and interactions. Lessig’s work, “Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace,” underscores how this technological code mirrors and can potentially substitute traditional legal systems in shaping and controlling human behavior.
In contrast, Timothy Wu, in his 2003 critique, “When Code isn’t Law,” offers a compelling counterargument. Wu challenges the notion that…
