Bill Text: NY A03760 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Relates to allowing signatures, records and contracts secured through blockchain technology to be considered in an electronic form and to be an electronic record and signature; allows smart contracts to exist in commerce.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-07 - print number 3760a [A03760 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A03760-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         3760--A

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 28, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. VANEL -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Governmental Operations -- recommitted to the Committee on  Govern-
          mental  Operations  in  accordance  with  Assembly  Rule  3, sec. 2 --
          committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as  amended  and
          recommitted to said committee

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  state technology law, in relation to blockchain
          technology and smart contracts

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Section  302  of  the  state technology law is amended by
     2  adding two new subdivisions 6 and 7 to read as follows:
     3    6. "Blockchain technology" shall mean  distributed  ledger  technology
     4  that  uses  a  distributed, decentralized, shared and replicated ledger,
     5  which may be public, permissioned or permissionless, or driven by token-
     6  ized crypto economics or tokenless. The data on the ledger is  protected
     7  with cryptography, is immutable and auditable and provides an uncensored
     8  truth.
     9    7.  "Smart contract" shall mean an event-driven program that runs on a
    10  distributed, decentralized, shared and replicated ledger  and  that  can
    11  take custody over and instruct transfer of assets on that ledger.
    12    §  2.  The state technology law is amended by adding a new section 310
    13  to read as follows:
    14    § 310. Signatures and records secured  through  blockchain  technology
    15  and  smart  contracts. 1. A signature that is secured through blockchain
    16  technology is considered to be in an electronic form and to be an  elec-
    17  tronic signature.
    18    2.  A record or contract that is secured through blockchain technology
    19  is considered to be in an  electronic  form  and  to  be  an  electronic
    20  record.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03139-02-2

        A. 3760--A                          2

     1    3.  Smart  contracts  may  exist in commerce. A contract relating to a
     2  transaction may not be denied legal effect, validity  or  enforceability
     3  solely because that contract contains a smart contract term.
     4    4.  Notwithstanding any other law, rule or regulation to the contrary,
     5  a person that, in or affecting  interstate  or  foreign  commerce,  uses
     6  blockchain  technology to secure information that the person owns or has
     7  the right to use retains the  same  rights  of  ownership  or  use  with
     8  respect to that information as before the person secured the information
     9  using  blockchain technology. This subdivision does not apply to the use
    10  of blockchain technology to secure  information  in  connection  with  a
    11  transaction  to  the  extent that the terms of the transaction expressly
    12  provide for the transfer of rights of ownership or use with  respect  to
    13  that  information.
    14    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
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