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There has been a resounding expectation by a lot of experts in the crypto community about the opportunities and gains that blockchain adoption could yield in the near future. In this post, we are going to take a look at what has changed so far in industries that have adopted it. Although it has disrupted nearly all , there are five of them where this process was the most successful by this date. These are supply chain management, healthcare, banking, voting systems, and cybersecurity. major industries Supply Chain Management Supply chain management for retail, logistics, and e-tail sectors has always appeared to be a more likely candidate for blockchain disruption from the get-go. This could be because of the many parties that are involved in the chain of supply — manufacturer, exporter, retailer, and the end user. Getting rid of the middlemen is one of the fundamental reasons why blockchain technology was invented. Due to the complexities of the trade, it is crucial that the parties involved can keep track of the freight, and blockchain provides a perfect solution for that. This technology allows them to keep a close track and manage the distribution channel. Moreover, due to the digital signatures, tampering with records or inaccurate labeling has been rendered nearly impossible. Currently, a number of startups are already using or offering blockchain solutions for supply chain management. These include Skuchain, Blockfreight, Clause, Maersk, Walmart, and IBM. Maersk, the world’s leading shipping company, has already adopted blockchain technology from IBM to track shipping containers. Walmart uses the same technology to track 1.1 million items’ journey from manufacturers to shelves. Healthcare Industry Medical records require safe storage, access-only security, and controlled sharing due to their sensitive nature. Guardtime, a cybersecurity company, uses blockchain technology to create a keyless entry system. . The country uses it to protect all of its patients’ medical records and appears to be the first to adopt a blockchain-based system in the health industry on a large scale. Estonia quickly adopted this system This has created lots of possibilities not just for Estonia but for many other countries across the globe to adopt blockchain in this sector. In the United States, Gem does the same thing. It partnered with CDC to experiment the use of blockchain technology to monitor infectious diseases. The main goal was to give patients control over their medical records and genomic data. Banking When the the blockchain disruptions first hit the banking industry, experts said that this was just the beginning. Guess what! They were correct. From a macro perspective, we can see why this was the case given that banks act as a critical transfer hub and storehouse of value. Blockchain’s secure, digitized, and tamper-proof ledger can serve the same function but with better efficiency and accuracy in information sharing for the entire financial service ecosystem. It would be interesting to note that some major banks around the world have swiftly moved to the blockchain-based way of transacting business. Some notable examples include the Royal Bank of Canada, Deutsche Bank, Swiss bank UBS, and UK-based Barclays. These are experimenting with blockchain as a way to expedite back office functions and settlement. According to experts, this adoption could eliminate the costs of the middleman by $20 billion. Startup R3 is already working with more than 80 consortia of banks, regulators, and technology partners. It wants to develop Corda — a blockchain platform that is designed to be the new operating system for financial markets. Voting Why blockchain adoption in voting? Elections in the past have always been marred with the lack of transparency and rigging, both of which have led to disgruntled voters. It is pivotal that elections are provided with reliable voter identification, record keeping, vote tracking, and tallying system. Blockchain seems to be a more capable candidate for such a task because it could serve as a foundational infrastructure for the vote casting, tracking, and counting. Therefore, it could potentially eliminate the need for vote recount by eliminating frauds. Typical examples of startups that are working towards achieving the blockchain voting system include Follow My Vote, Voatz, and Democracy Earth. In particular, Follow My Vote released the alpha version of its stake-weighted end-to-end blockchain voting solution. Cybersecurity and Cloud Infrastructure The traditional internet infrastructure has been privy to constant threat from hackers, especially when considering the Internet of Things. What’s more, there is a greater risk to the civil society due to the power plants and transportation systems being equipped with connected sensors. Luckily, the adoption of blockchain innovation could help avert such risks as seen with companies such as Xage Security. Xage Security adopted blockchain-based tamper-proof ledgers for safe and secure data sharing across industrial device networks. Wrapping Up The blockchain ledger can be made public, but what makes it a hack-proof solution is that it can send communication through advanced cryptographic technology. This ensures that data is intercepted in the interim. As a result, worldwide adoption of blockchain could eliminate the probability of hacking. In terms of development, the present state of the blockchain technology could be compared to where the internet was 20 years ago. According to the infographic below, with the rapid rate of adoption, it could bring about a major disruption sooner than projected. Hopefully, all companies will board the blockchain ride or face rejection. Infographic URL: https://bitfortune.net/blockchain-disruptions-infographic/

Blockchain: Disruptions And Opportunities

“I went from having to borrow money from friends to pay the bills to making $4 million in a day.” — Trevor Jones, a painter from the UK. Trevor was in his 50s when he shared his story with The Guardian. Trevor started making non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a blockchain-enabled technology, back in 2019 and quickly accumulated wealth. Blockchain use cases expand to different industries, and businesses can leverage this technology to replicate Jones’ success. And many are already doing this by turning to to build a suitable solution. MarketsandMarkets project the global blockchain market size to amount to , jumping from $4.9 billion in 2021 at a CAGR of 68.4%. blockchain consultancy firms $67.4 billion by 2026 Are you interested in learning more about blockchain use cases to see if the technology is right for you? Then keep reading. The article also explains which blockchain advantages you can count on and which drawbacks you will need to address. We also offer a few tips on how to start with blockchain implementation. What is Blockchain, and How Does it Work? Technically speaking, blockchain is a decentralized distributed database where data is shared among different computers, and no single entity has full control. Blockchain keeps the entire history of the data it contains. So it can’t be faked or changed without all the other parties noticing. Blockchain first as the technology behind Bitcoin transactions. Currently, it has applications in different fields, including finances, healthcare, insurance, sports, and the public sector. appeared in 2008 Deloitte in a relatively simple way: explains how blockchain works Imagine if you are a node, and you have a file of transactions stored on your computer, representing a ledger. Several accountants (let’s call them miners), have this same file on their computers, so it’s distributed. When you make a transaction, your computer notifies the accountants, and they rush to verify whether you can afford it. The accountants get paid their salary in Bitcoins. The first accountant to validate your transaction will notify everyone else, attaching their verification logic. If everyone agrees, they all update their files. You can get more information from this short but informative video posted by the consultancy firm. Blockchain has Five Characteristics: Decentralized: there is no central authority Secure: every entry is protected with a cryptographic function Anonymous: every user has a unique alphabetic address that identifies them, and transactions occur between these blockchain addresses Immutable: no one can tamper with the data without being noticed Peer-to-peer: users communicate without any intermediaries Types of Blockchain Technology Public blockchain (permissionless): users can join freely without requiring permission. This type is slow because consensus and data verification processes take a long time as the number of participants grows. Cryptocurrency is one of public blockchain’s use cases. Private blockchain (permissioned): it runs on a closed network and has a much smaller scale than the public one. Its size makes private blockchain faster than the previous type but also decreases trust as it’s easier for a certain number of users to dominate and control the transaction validation process. Moreover, the network owner has the power to decide what’s valid, thereby reducing trust. Hybrid blockchain: a network where some transactions are permissioned, while maintaining the connection to the public blockchain. This type is characterized by better security than private blockchains as it is harder for the owner to tamper with transactions. A Consortium blockchain is similar to private blockchains, but this type is controlled by a group of users instead of one entity. 4 Top Blockchain Use Cases Cryptocurrency Blockchain was originally presented to serve as the technology behind Bitcoin. Now, blockchain is not limited to the financial sector and can serve other purposes. But cryptocurrency remains one of the most prominent blockchain use cases. Some cryptocurrencies, such as Ethereum, are volatile, but there are attempts to bring more stability to the market. For example, Stablecoins’ price doesn’t fluctuate frequently as it is tied to a flat currency while maintaining cryptocurrency’s mobility. According to recent research, blockchain adoption can save large banks . up to $12 billion per year One cryptocurrency blockchain example comes from the New York-based . The company facilitates digital asset exchange, purchase, and storage. It allows participants to handle their assets as they see fit and even offers the Gemini Earn program enabling subscribers to receive up to 7.4% interest on their wallets. Gemini Smart Contracts are similar to regular contracts, but they are stored on a blockchain and automatically executed when certain conditions are satisfied. They are computer programs coded in an if/then manner to ensure every participant receives benefits and penalties stipulated by the contract. For instance, the insurance sector can leverage this blockchain use case to automate travel costs reimbursements. If a flight is cancelled, smart contracts automatically pay policyholders so that people don’t get stuck in the traditional lengthy claim approval process. Smart contracts There is no middleman with smart contracts, and every party is held accountable. This arrangement reduces costs and eliminates human errors, while it can still handle a large number of different rules. One of EY’s clients reported that deploying smart contracts helped them from 45 days to less than a minute. cut deal processing time Non-fungible Tokens (NFT) NFTs are different from Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency units. The technology represents a digital work of art and has . It can manifest itself in photos, videos, and even memes and tweets. Every NFT is unique, like a limited-edition trading card. People purchase NFTs to support their favorite artists or to have the right to own the piece, such as playing the NFT audio in their commercials. various applications in the arts sector NFTs can be sold/procured at rather high prices. For example, a Nyan cat meme was purchased , and Twitter’s founder Jack Dorsey sold his first tweet in the form of NFT . Not long ago, NBA’s that fans can procure. for around $600,000 for almost $2,900,000 Golden State Warriors introduced their collection of NFT items Nyan cat meme sold for $600,000 Personal Identity Management and Verification The statistics on identity theft are scary; at one point in their life, and it cost them $56 billion in 2020 alone. 33% of Americans have been victims of identity theft One of the blockchain use cases is personal identity protection. It enables users to store their information, including social security number, birth date, address, etc. in a blockchain, giving them more control over which pieces of information they want to share and with whom. For example, if you only need to reveal your age, you don’t have to show your driver’s license (which contains more than just the age). It will suffice to share the blockchain token that contains your birth date. In the governmental sector, for example, with distributed blockchain to store death and birth certificates, voter registration cards, and more. the state of Illinois experimented Pros and Cons of Blockchain Top advantages of blockchain technology Eliminating intermediaries: in blockchain, transactions occur directly between and are verified by users. So, there is no need to deal with a middleman for monitoring and coordination. A German tourism company, TUI Group, was one of the pioneers . They stored hotel bed records on a blockchain and offered it to consumers directly, without mediators who would manage information and set their own rates. to integrate blockchain in the travel industry Keeping track of previous actions: blockchain technology stores every change made to data fields together with a timestamp, enabling participants to view the latest updates and the complete log of changes. Blockchain entries are immutable and can’t be deleted. This will serve as evidence in the case of audits. Preventing counterfeit: both companies and individual consumers suffer from product falsification. The International Chamber of Commerce predicts counterfeit if no change is implemented. One of the advantages of blockchain is that it stores product ID, which allows users to trace items back to their owners and sources. As objects move through the supply chain, participants will upload more information on their status. All the data is time-stamped and can’t be tampered with. will cost the global economy $2.3 trillion in 2022 One blockchain example comes from San Francisco-based jeweler, Brilliant Earth, who teamed up with the UK’s Everledger to create blockchain-powered . Every block contains a diamond’s ID, origins, carat weight, and videos depicting it. Everledger claims their platform increased the value consumers are willing to pay for diamonds and their purchase speed. records of 2.2 million diamonds Enhancing security: record encryption and the distributed nature of blockchains make them secure. There is no one centralized entity that hackers need to breach to gain access to the stored data. They will need to obtain different keys to penetrate many locations, resulting in an exponential growth of computing requirements. Moreover, companies can divide information and store it in different blocks. For example, travel agencies can slice flight information into several pieces and sort them in various nodes. The US military is turning to blockchain for its security. Engineers at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are for the army to share vital information in real-time while preventing hackers from listening in. looking into a blockchain-powered messaging system Building transparency into supply chains: another blockchain advantage is that it helps to familiarize consumers with company’s products and practices. Transparency appeals to people’s sense of fairness, so they like to reward manufacturers for their ethical or sustainable efforts. While in conventional supply chains information exists in silos with very little visibility, blockchain enables product owners to add as much information as possible. Luxury fashion brand to enrich its supply chain with information on the Pakistani workers who make the brand’s shoes by hand. After six months, the company witnessed a 31% boost in online conversion and a 45% increase in engagement. Fuchsia deployed blockchain Enabling IoT technology: blockchain can be used to record measurements generated by IoT sensors at different locations. No particular entity would have the power to override the readings, making them secure and reliable. California-based is the first blockchain-driven cybersecurity platform built for IoT companies. It can handle millions of devices simultaneously, perform self-diagnosis, and heal identified breaches. Xage Blockchain Issues to Consider Everyone in the ecosystem must switch to blockchain: if you intend to use blockchain, then your whole ecosystem will be required to invest in this technology and abandon its current processes. Unfortunately, at the moment, that many organizations are unwilling to replace their existing systems with blockchain. experts note Scalability: another blockchain issue is that it is relatively slow. For example, one of its most popular applications, Bitcoin, can handle . In contrast, Visa can process 1,700 transactions within the same time frame. The more nodes join the network, the slower it becomes. However, it’s still possible to make transactions outside the blockchain and only use the technology to store and retrieve information. only 4.6 transactions per second Implementation costs: implementing blockchain solutions is a pricey endeavor. Even though many blockchain tools are open source, you will still need to hire developers who understand different aspects of this technology. Additionally, you will need maintenance and support, and will pay licensing fees if you opt for a paid ready-made solution. Blockchain security issues: security is one of the main blockchain advantages, but it’s also a risk factor. Decentralized financial breaches of all registered hacks in 2021. And they seem to be on the rise, as the third quarter of 2021 alone had 20% more blockchain hacks than the whole of 2020. Here are the most common blockchain security issues: amounted to 76% - 51% attack: if one entity gains control over 51% of the nodes, it controls the whole network and can modify information. - Phishing: this is a baiting technique where hackers pose as authoritative sources and send emails to wallet key owners to obtain their credentials. - Cryptographic key cracking: hackers can use quantum algorithms to break cryptographic keys that encrypt blockchain entries. - Exploiting endpoint vulnerability: securing the blockchain itself is not enough if you are using external resources. For example, when trading Bitcoin, one can use a virtual savings account to store the currency temporarily. If this account is vulnerable, hackers can gain access to it without penetrating the blockchain. How to Start With Implementing Blockchain Choose your blockchain use case companies that aren’t confident with their blockchain skills to start with single-use applications to minimize risks. For example, you can add Bitcoin as a payment method. And while you are experimenting with this simple blockchain use case, your different departments will start building blockchain capabilities that you can later extend to more complex applications. Harvard Business Review advises Another option would be using blockchain as a database for managing assets and recording transactions. This is especially useful for organizations that are trying to reconcile several databases. If you are rather ambitious and want to work with transformative applications, such as self-executing smart contracts, it makes sense to re-evaluate your current possibilities and work on acquiring talent and technology first. These applications are very powerful, but they work best when tied to an innovative business model. For example, if a law firm wants to deploy smart contracts, it will need blockchain programming expertise and will have to rethink its payment model and test it first. Determine if blockchain technology is a good fit for solving your problem to answer five questions, and if you tick at least three of them, then blockchain is a viable solution to your problem: EY proposes Are there multiple parties involved in your transactions? Is it crucial to have a tamper-proof record of transactions? Do you need to implement a shared business logic between all partners? Are you managing a finite resource? Does your ecosystem require transparency? Select your Blockchain Platform Carefully There are that you can choose from based on your requirements. For example, provides a truly decentralized network and supports smart contracts, but it’s slow, and transaction processing costs are relatively high. also deals with smart contracts and claims to provide faster transaction processing than Ethereum. allows you to work with novel financial instruments, such as NFTs. allows companies to create their own private blockchains. several blockchain platforms Ethereum EOSIO Tezos Hyperledger Fabric platform On a Final Note Despite all the hype behind this technology, it is important to understand that blockchain will not change the world today. It is not a disruptive technology in the sense that it can attack traditional business models with high-performance solutions. Blockchain has a foundational nature. It will create the basis for our systems and generate enormous value, but it will take a while as the adoption process will be gradual. Michela Menting, Research Director at ABI Research, describes the situation well , by saying “It is important to understand that there’s been a lot of hype around blockchain, and while it’s revolutionary in theory, it’s not going to transform society today. Maybe it will be 10 to 20 years from now, but it’s not a short-term technology.” Even if we know that blockchain will only reach its full potential decades into the future, organizations can already start preparing for those days. One way to do that is to start small and reap blockchain benefits by incorporating it into your single-purpose blockchain use cases. And we will be happy to accompany you on your journey. Our team can help integrate your system with the right existing blockchain platform. We can also help with smart contract development. Do you want to incorporate blockchain into your operations? ! Their team will be happy to help. Drop ITRex a line First Published here

Blockchain: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

In the rapidly evolving landscape of the digital era, trust and integrity are fundamental pillars that underpin the reliability and . With the exponential growth of digital information, the need for ensuring data integrity has become paramount. Enter blockchain technology—a revolutionary innovation that promises to redefine trust in the digital age. security of data One of the most compelling features of blockchain is its ability to maintain the . Every piece of information stored on a blockchain is securely encrypted into blocks and linked together in a continuous chain. Each block contains a unique cryptographic hash, timestamp, and reference to the previous block, creating an unalterable record of transactions or information. Once recorded, data stored on the blockchain cannot be modified or deleted without the consensus of the entire network, making it highly resistant to tampering and fraud. integrity of data Today, several platforms have been able to harness this power to become more reliable. The Chronicle Protocol - a scalable, cost-efficient Oracle service - is looking to bolster the functionality of traditional blockchains by improving the workings of an integral part called data . Oracles Essentially, Oracles help to feed blockchains with data. But, the operation of these components has been hampered significantly thanks to their build. Chronicle is looking to introduce a new type of Oracle, which is blockchain-agnostic, verifiable, and gas-efficient in operation. Kicking off with ETH Warsaw, followed by ETH Lisbon and the ETHGlobal Istanbul, Chronicle is now looking to build on adoption via industry-leading hackathons. We spoke with Angus Tookey of Chronicle Labs to understand their vision and how they believe that Chronicle could help usher in a new age of cost-efficiency with blockchains and data integrity. 1. Where did the vision for Chronicle come from? “Chronicle was born from . The brand ‘Chronicle’ is new; however, the protocol has been live since 2017, exclusively securing up to $20bn in crypto assets for Maker. This actually makes it one of the oldest, continually operating protocols in the space. MakerDAO The vision of Niklas Kunkel, the Head of the Oracle Core Unit of MakerDAO, was to spin out the team and tech stack to continue to serve Maker but also offer Oracle services to the wider community. As of September 2023, this vision became a reality, and the brand Chronicle Protocol was launched. Web3 The overarching vision of Chronicle is to provide a better and verifiable option for on-chain data. Until now, Oracle protocols operate like ‘black boxes’ with almost zero transparency on how and where data is sourced, as well as crippling on-chain costs to operate. Chronicle changes that with fully verifiable data via , an on-chain dashboard, and the invention of ‘Scribe’, a new cryptographic Oracle primitive that reduces gas usage of Oracles by over 80% versus the most used Oracle provider.” The Chronicle 2. Do you envision Chronicle being implemented on more chains after Ethereum? “Chronicle was born on , and zkEVM was the first chain to follow as we launched in September. The goal for the rest of 2023 is to roll out integrations with all the major EVM chains. Ethereum Polygon It isn’t true that all EVM chains are the same; implementations vary wildly. However, we have designed Scribe to be a ‘single implementation’ on EVM. We did it this way to ensure accessibility but also security. It is safer to monitor and deploy a single implementation than make custom versions for each chain, and we can ensure its integrity if it is the same across all chains. It is the unique design of ‘Scribe,’ using an Optimistic Schnorr hybrid model, that allows us to construct a single implementation that operates effectively on both L1s and L2s, despite the environments and limitations of these chains being polar opposites. For the rest of 2023, we will be rolling out our Scribe architecture Chronicle Oracles across all the major such as Optimism, Arbitrum, Base, Mantle, Scroll, and more.” EVM chains 3. What would you say is the biggest impediment to blockchain adoption at a global level right now? “I think the blocker right now is understanding. Specifically, an understanding of how or the innate features of Web3, can enhance or improve industries. We talk about this as ‘coming on-chain,’ and I see it much like the early days of businesses deciding whether it would add value for them to ‘come online.’ blockchain technology, However, that is not to say every industry would benefit from coming on-chain - at least in its current form. Operationally, blockchain technology is still vastly more expensive to run than off-chain equivalents. However, this is getting more cost-effective all the time. There are, however, some industries that can really benefit from the integration of blockchain technology, and when that level of education and successful examples are there, a better understanding will follow. I think then we will start to see a much broader adoption of the technology in traditional industries. Finance is a great example of an industry that has an excellent product-market fit with . So far, it is perhaps the only decentralized industry in the space that has found that product market fit, with billions of dollars of TVL. Oracles are at the heart of this; there is no DeFi without Oracles, so we are very supportive of the growth and innovation of financial products on-chain at Chronicle.” blockchain in DeFi 4. Is there more to Oracles than just price data? “Essentially, if you want to get any data into a , you need an Oracle to deliver it. The complexity of the Oracle can vary depending on how secure you need or want it to be, but smart contracts (the software that underpins every blockchain product or application) cannot make API calls to get that data from off-chain sources. smart contract Oracles have been designed as the bridge between off-chain data and on-chain apps or products. As a result, the type of data Oracles can handle is almost unlimited. There is a great demand for price data at the moment, and so market forces dictate that this is where Oracle providers, such as Chronicle, have concentrated their development thus far. However, there is huge growth to come from providing a variety of other data, including a variety of other numerical values such as interest & base rates, the values of ‘real-world assets’, or even the outcome of a sports match, governance decision, or authentication of verification by signatories. At Chronicle, we are working on tackling a number of these new use cases with our partners in the space, like Centrifuge and Maker. Of particular interest is the digital layer of truth, or attestations, that could unlock the current process of deploying on-chain capital into real-world assets, such as .” treasury bonds Conclusion At the end of the day, there remains much work to be done in the blockchain space - especially from a functional standpoint. But, with more projects looking to build on the future, there’s a lot to look forward to as well.

Blockchain and Data Integrity: An Interview About a New Era of Trust in the Digital Age

Tiktok Inc., and ByteDance LTD., v. Merrick B. Garland Update Court Filing, retrieved on May 7, 2024,  is part of HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series. You can jump to any part in this filing here. This part is 6 of 11. E. Congress Disregarded Alternatives to Banning TikTok, Such as the National Security Measures Petitioners Negotiated with the Executive Branch. 41. Petitioners have demonstrated a commitment to addressing both of those concerns without the need to resort to the drastic, unconstitutional step of shuttering one of the most widely used forums for speech in the United States. The 90-page draft National Security Agreement that Petitioners developed with CFIUS would, if implemented, provide U.S. TikTok users with protections more robust than those employed by any other widely used online platform in the industry. 42. The draft National Security Agreement contains several means of ensuring data security without banning TikTok. All protected U.S. user data (as defined in the National Security Agreement) would be safeguarded in the United States under a special corporate structure: TikTok U.S. Data Security (a new subsidiary of TikTok Inc.). A special board, with Security Directors whose appointment would be subject to the U.S. government’s approval, would oversee TikTok U.S. Data Security, and in turn exclude ByteDance and all of its other subsidiaries and affiliates from such responsibilities. Further separation between the U.S. TikTok business and ByteDance subsidiaries and affiliates, including TikTok in the rest of the world, would be achieved by appointing a U.S.-government-approved Security Director to the board of TikTok Inc. Protected U.S. user data would be stored in the cloud environment of a U.S.-government-approved partner, Oracle Corporation, with access to such data managed by TikTok U.S. Data Security. 43. The draft Agreement would also protect against the concern about content manipulation and propaganda. Multiple layers of protection address concerns related to content available on the TikTok platform, including ensuring that all content moderation — both human and algorithmic — would be subject to third-party verification and monitoring. The concern about content manipulation would also be addressed by securing all software code through Oracle Corporation, a U.S. trusted technology provider. The TikTok U.S. platform and application would be deployed through the Oracle cloud infrastructure and subject to source code review and vetting by Oracle with another U.S.-government-approved third party responsible for conducting security inspections. As part of this process, Oracle and third parties approved by CFIUS would conduct independent inspections of the TikTok recommendation engine. 44. The draft Agreement also includes strict penalties for noncompliance, including a “shut-down option,” giving the government the authority to suspend TikTok in the United States in response to specified acts of noncompliance. The Agreement also provides significant monetary penalties and other remedies for noncompliance. 45. Although the government has apparently abandoned the draft National Security Agreement, Petitioners have not. TikTok Inc. has begun the process of voluntarily implementing the National Security Agreement’s provisions to the extent it can do so without the U.S. government’s cooperation, including by incorporating and staffing the TikTok U.S. Data Security entity, and by partnering with Oracle Corporation on the migration of the U.S. platform and protected U.S. user data to Oracle’s cloud environment. 46. To date, Petitioners have spent more than $2 billion to implement these measures and resolve the very concerns publicly expressed by congressional supporters of the Act — all without the overbroad and unconstitutional method of an outright ban. Continue Reading Here. About HackerNoon Legal PDF Series: We bring you the most important technical and insightful public domain court case filings.
This court case retrieved on May 7, 2024, from sf16-va.tiktokcdn.com is part of the public domain. The court-created documents are works of the federal government, and under copyright law, are automatically placed in the public domain and may be shared without legal restriction. Lead image by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash Tiktok Inc., and ByteDance LTD., v. Merrick B. Garland Update Court Filing, retrieved on May 7, 2024,  is part of HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series. You can jump to any part in this filing here. This part is 6 of 11. Tiktok Inc., and ByteDance LTD., v. Merrick B. Garland Update Court Filing, retrieved on May 7, 2024,  is part of HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series . You can jump to any part in this filing here . This part is 6 of 11. HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series here E. Congress Disregarded Alternatives to Banning TikTok, Such as the National Security Measures Petitioners Negotiated with the Executive Branch. 41. Petitioners have demonstrated a commitment to addressing both of those concerns without the need to resort to the drastic, unconstitutional step of shuttering one of the most widely used forums for speech in the United States. The 90-page draft National Security Agreement that Petitioners developed with CFIUS would, if implemented, provide U.S. TikTok users with protections more robust than those employed by any other widely used online platform in the industry. 42. The draft National Security Agreement contains several means of ensuring data security without banning TikTok. All protected U.S. user data (as defined in the National Security Agreement) would be safeguarded in the United States under a special corporate structure: TikTok U.S. Data Security (a new subsidiary of TikTok Inc.). A special board, with Security Directors whose appointment would be subject to the U.S. government’s approval, would oversee TikTok U.S. Data Security, and in turn exclude ByteDance and all of its other subsidiaries and affiliates from such responsibilities. Further separation between the U.S. TikTok business and ByteDance subsidiaries and affiliates, including TikTok in the rest of the world, would be achieved by appointing a U.S.-government-approved Security Director to the board of TikTok Inc. Protected U.S. user data would be stored in the cloud environment of a U.S.-government-approved partner, Oracle Corporation, with access to such data managed by TikTok U.S. Data Security. 43. The draft Agreement would also protect against the concern about content manipulation and propaganda. Multiple layers of protection address concerns related to content available on the TikTok platform, including ensuring that all content moderation — both human and algorithmic — would be subject to third-party verification and monitoring. The concern about content manipulation would also be addressed by securing all software code through Oracle Corporation, a U.S. trusted technology provider. The TikTok U.S. platform and application would be deployed through the Oracle cloud infrastructure and subject to source code review and vetting by Oracle with another U.S.-government-approved third party responsible for conducting security inspections. As part of this process, Oracle and third parties approved by CFIUS would conduct independent inspections of the TikTok recommendation engine. 44. The draft Agreement also includes strict penalties for noncompliance, including a “shut-down option,” giving the government the authority to suspend TikTok in the United States in response to specified acts of noncompliance. The Agreement also provides significant monetary penalties and other remedies for noncompliance. 45. Although the government has apparently abandoned the draft National Security Agreement, Petitioners have not. TikTok Inc. has begun the process of voluntarily implementing the National Security Agreement’s provisions to the extent it can do so without the U.S. government’s cooperation, including by incorporating and staffing the TikTok U.S. Data Security entity, and by partnering with Oracle Corporation on the migration of the U.S. platform and protected U.S. user data to Oracle’s cloud environment. 46. To date, Petitioners have spent more than $2 billion to implement these measures and resolve the very concerns publicly expressed by congressional supporters of the Act — all without the overbroad and unconstitutional method of an outright ban. Continue Reading Here. Continue Reading Here . Here About HackerNoon Legal PDF Series: We bring you the most important technical and insightful public domain court case filings. This court case retrieved on May 7, 2024, from sf16-va.tiktokcdn.com is part of the public domain. The court-created documents are works of the federal government, and under copyright law, are automatically placed in the public domain and may be shared without legal restriction. About HackerNoon Legal PDF Series: We bring you the most important technical and insightful public domain court case filings. This court case retrieved on May 7, 2024, from sf16-va.tiktokcdn.com is part of the public domain. The court-created documents are works of the federal government, and under copyright law, are automatically placed in the public domain and may be shared without legal restriction. sf16-va.tiktokcdn.com Lead image by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash Lead image by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash Solen Feyissa on Unsplash

TikTok Proposes Robust National Security Measures as Viable Alternative to Banning

Tiktok Inc., and ByteDance LTD., v. Merrick B. Garland Update Court Filing, retrieved on May 7, 2024, is part of HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series. You can jump to any part in this filing here. This part is 3 of 11. B. The Government Previously Made Unlawful Attempts to Ban TikTok. 18. Petitioners’ efforts to address the U.S. government’s asserted concerns regarding the TikTok platform date back to 2019. At that time, Petitioners began engaging with CFIUS, which had initiated a review of ByteDance Ltd.’s 2017 acquisition of Musical.ly, another Internet-based video-sharing platform. 19. Petitioners were in the early stages of engaging with CFIUS on a voluntary basis to address the government’s concerns, when on August 6, 2020, President Trump abruptly issued an executive order purporting to ban TikTok under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”), 50 U.S.C. §§ 1701–08. See 85 Fed. Reg. 48,637 (the “Ban Order”). Two separate district courts preliminarily enjoined the Ban Order, concluding (among other things) that it exceeded the President’s IEEPA authority. TikTok Inc. v. Trump, 490 F. Supp. 3d 73, 83 (D.D.C. 2020); TikTok Inc. v. Trump, 507 F. Supp. 3d 92, 112 (D.D.C. 2020); Marland v. Trump, 498 F. Supp. 3d 624, 641 (E.D. Pa. 2020). 20. Specifically, as these courts correctly recognized, the President’s IEEPA authority “to deal with any unusual and extraordinary threat” to the nation “does not include the authority to regulate or prohibit, directly or indirectly . . . [any] personal communication” or the importation or exportation “of any information or informational materials.” 50 U.S.C. § 1702(b)(1), (3). These restrictions on the President’s IEEPA authority — which Congress expanded through multiple amendments to the statute — were designed “to prevent the statute from running afoul of the First Amendment.” United States v. Amirnazmi, 645 F.3d 564, 585 (3d Cir. 2011) (quotation marks omitted); see also Kalantari v. NITV, Inc., 352 F.3d 1202, 1205 (9th Cir. 2003) (IEEPA’s limitations necessary “to prevent the executive branch from restricting the international flow of materials protected by the First Amendment”); Marland, 498 F. Supp. 3d at 629 (same). 21. Looking to the foundational First Amendment principles codified in IEEPA’s text and legislative history, these courts concluded that President Trump’s efforts to ban TikTok violated the statute and raised “serious” constitutional questions (which were unnecessary to decide under the doctrine of constitutional avoidance). TikTok Inc., 507 F. Supp. 3d at 112 n.6; TikTok Inc., 490 F. Supp. 3d at 83 n.3. The courts granted the government’s motions to voluntarily dismiss its appeals after President Biden withdrew the Ban Order. See TikTok Inc. v. Biden, No. 20-5302, 2021 WL 3713550 (D.C. Cir. July 20, 2021); TikTok Inc. v. Biden, No. 20-5381, 2021 WL 3082803 (D.C. Cir. July 14, 2021); Marland v. Trump, No. 20-3322, 2021 WL 5346749 (3d Cir. July 14, 2021). 22. Separately, acting on a CFIUS referral, President Trump on August 14, 2020 issued an order under Section 721 of the Defense Production Act, 50 U.S.C. § 4565, purporting to direct ByteDance to divest from TikTok’s U.S. business and U.S. user data. 85 Fed. Reg. 51,297 (the “Divestment Order”). On November 10, 2020, Petitioners petitioned this Court for review of the Divestment Order and underlying CFIUS actions, arguing, among other things, that the government lacked jurisdiction under the statute. See Petition for Review, TikTok Inc. v. CFIUS, No. 20-1444 (D.C. Cir. Nov. 10, 2020). That petition was held in abeyance in February 2021 on the parties’ joint motion to allow the parties to negotiate a resolution. The government has filed status reports every 60 days since then, most recently on April 22, 2024. Those status reports have consistently reported that “[t]he parties continue to be involved in ongoing negotiations” and “[a]beyance continues to be appropriate.” See, e.g., Status Report, TikTok Inc. v. CFIUS, No. 20-1444 (D.C. Cir. Apr. 22, 2024). 23. Between January 2021 and August 2022, Petitioners and CFIUS engaged in an intensive, fact-based process to develop a National Security Agreement that would resolve the U.S. government’s concerns about whether Chinese authorities might be able to access U.S. user data or manipulate content on TikTok, as well as resolve the pending CFIUS dispute. During that time, Petitioners and government officials communicated regularly, often several times a week — including several in-person meetings — about the government’s concerns and potential solutions. The result was an approximately 90-page draft National Security Agreement with detailed annexes embodying a comprehensive solution addressing the government’s national security concerns. Notably, the draft National Security Agreement provided that all protected U.S. user data (as defined in the agreement) would be stored in the cloud environment of a U.S.-government-approved partner, Oracle Corporation, which would also review and vet the TikTok source code. 24. From Petitioners’ perspective, all indications were that they were nearing a final agreement. After August 2022, however, CFIUS without explanation stopped engaging with Petitioners in meaningful discussions about the National Security Agreement. Petitioners repeatedly asked why discussions had ended and how they might be restarted, but they did not receive a substantive response. In March 2023, without providing any justification for why the draft National Security Agreement was inadequate, CFIUS insisted that ByteDance would be required to divest the U.S. TikTok business. 25. Since March 2023, Petitioners have explained to CFIUS, in multiple written communications and in-person meetings, that a divestiture of the U.S. TikTok business from the rest of the integrated global TikTok platform and business of the sort now required by the Act is not feasible. CFIUS has never articulated any basis for disagreeing with that assessment, offering instead only a conclusory assertion that the reason ByteDance was not divesting was because it was simply unwilling to do so. The Act nonetheless incorporates precisely such an infeasible divestiture standard. Continue Reading Here. About HackerNoon Legal PDF Series: We bring you the most important technical and insightful public domain court case filings.
This court case retrieved on May 7, 2024, from sf16-va.tiktokcdn.com is part of the public domain. The court-created documents are works of the federal government, and under copyright law, are automatically placed in the public domain and may be shared without legal restriction. Tiktok Inc., and ByteDance LTD., v. Merrick B. Garland Update Court Filing, retrieved on May 7, 2024, is part of HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series. You can jump to any part in this filing here. This part is 3 of 11. Tiktok Inc., and ByteDance LTD., v. Merrick B. Garland Update Court Filing, retrieved on May 7, 2024, is part of HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series . You can jump to any part in this filing here . This part is 3 of 11. HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series here B. The Government Previously Made Unlawful Attempts to Ban TikTok. 18. Petitioners’ efforts to address the U.S. government’s asserted concerns regarding the TikTok platform date back to 2019. At that time, Petitioners began engaging with CFIUS, which had initiated a review of ByteDance Ltd.’s 2017 acquisition of Musical.ly, another Internet-based video-sharing platform. 19. Petitioners were in the early stages of engaging with CFIUS on a voluntary basis to address the government’s concerns, when on August 6, 2020, President Trump abruptly issued an executive order purporting to ban TikTok under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”), 50 U.S.C. §§ 1701–08. See 85 Fed. Reg. 48,637 (the “Ban Order”). Two separate district courts preliminarily enjoined the Ban Order, concluding (among other things) that it exceeded the President’s IEEPA authority. TikTok Inc. v. Trump, 490 F. Supp. 3d 73, 83 (D.D.C. 2020); TikTok Inc. v. Trump, 507 F. Supp. 3d 92, 112 (D.D.C. 2020); Marland v. Trump, 498 F. Supp. 3d 624, 641 (E.D. Pa. 2020). 20. Specifically, as these courts correctly recognized, the President’s IEEPA authority “to deal with any unusual and extraordinary threat” to the nation “does not include the authority to regulate or prohibit, directly or indirectly . . . [any] personal communication” or the importation or exportation “of any information or informational materials.” 50 U.S.C. § 1702(b)(1), (3). These restrictions on the President’s IEEPA authority — which Congress expanded through multiple amendments to the statute — were designed “to prevent the statute from running afoul of the First Amendment.” United States v. Amirnazmi, 645 F.3d 564, 585 (3d Cir. 2011) (quotation marks omitted); see also Kalantari v. NITV, Inc., 352 F.3d 1202, 1205 (9th Cir. 2003) (IEEPA’s limitations necessary “to prevent the executive branch from restricting the international flow of materials protected by the First Amendment”); Marland, 498 F. Supp. 3d at 629 (same). 21. Looking to the foundational First Amendment principles codified in IEEPA’s text and legislative history, these courts concluded that President Trump’s efforts to ban TikTok violated the statute and raised “serious” constitutional questions (which were unnecessary to decide under the doctrine of constitutional avoidance). TikTok Inc., 507 F. Supp. 3d at 112 n.6; TikTok Inc., 490 F. Supp. 3d at 83 n.3. The courts granted the government’s motions to voluntarily dismiss its appeals after President Biden withdrew the Ban Order. See TikTok Inc. v. Biden, No. 20-5302, 2021 WL 3713550 (D.C. Cir. July 20, 2021); TikTok Inc. v. Biden, No. 20-5381, 2021 WL 3082803 (D.C. Cir. July 14, 2021); Marland v. Trump, No. 20-3322, 2021 WL 5346749 (3d Cir. July 14, 2021). 22. Separately, acting on a CFIUS referral, President Trump on August 14, 2020 issued an order under Section 721 of the Defense Production Act, 50 U.S.C. § 4565, purporting to direct ByteDance to divest from TikTok’s U.S. business and U.S. user data. 85 Fed. Reg. 51,297 (the “Divestment Order”). On November 10, 2020, Petitioners petitioned this Court for review of the Divestment Order and underlying CFIUS actions, arguing, among other things, that the government lacked jurisdiction under the statute. See Petition for Review, TikTok Inc. v. CFIUS, No. 20-1444 (D.C. Cir. Nov. 10, 2020). That petition was held in abeyance in February 2021 on the parties’ joint motion to allow the parties to negotiate a resolution. The government has filed status reports every 60 days since then, most recently on April 22, 2024. Those status reports have consistently reported that “[t]he parties continue to be involved in ongoing negotiations” and “[a]beyance continues to be appropriate.” See, e.g., Status Report, TikTok Inc. v. CFIUS, No. 20-1444 (D.C. Cir. Apr. 22, 2024). 23. Between January 2021 and August 2022, Petitioners and CFIUS engaged in an intensive, fact-based process to develop a National Security Agreement that would resolve the U.S. government’s concerns about whether Chinese authorities might be able to access U.S. user data or manipulate content on TikTok, as well as resolve the pending CFIUS dispute. During that time, Petitioners and government officials communicated regularly, often several times a week — including several in-person meetings — about the government’s concerns and potential solutions. The result was an approximately 90-page draft National Security Agreement with detailed annexes embodying a comprehensive solution addressing the government’s national security concerns. Notably, the draft National Security Agreement provided that all protected U.S. user data (as defined in the agreement) would be stored in the cloud environment of a U.S.-government-approved partner, Oracle Corporation, which would also review and vet the TikTok source code. 24. From Petitioners’ perspective, all indications were that they were nearing a final agreement. After August 2022, however, CFIUS without explanation stopped engaging with Petitioners in meaningful discussions about the National Security Agreement. Petitioners repeatedly asked why discussions had ended and how they might be restarted, but they did not receive a substantive response. In March 2023, without providing any justification for why the draft National Security Agreement was inadequate, CFIUS insisted that ByteDance would be required to divest the U.S. TikTok business. 25. Since March 2023, Petitioners have explained to CFIUS, in multiple written communications and in-person meetings, that a divestiture of the U.S. TikTok business from the rest of the integrated global TikTok platform and business of the sort now required by the Act is not feasible. CFIUS has never articulated any basis for disagreeing with that assessment, offering instead only a conclusory assertion that the reason ByteDance was not divesting was because it was simply unwilling to do so. The Act nonetheless incorporates precisely such an infeasible divestiture standard. Continue Reading Here. Continue Reading Here . Here About HackerNoon Legal PDF Series: We bring you the most important technical and insightful public domain court case filings. This court case retrieved on May 7, 2024, from sf16-va.tiktokcdn.com is part of the public domain. The court-created documents are works of the federal government, and under copyright law, are automatically placed in the public domain and may be shared without legal restriction. About HackerNoon Legal PDF Series: We bring you the most important technical and insightful public domain court case filings. This court case retrieved on May 7, 2024, from sf16-va.tiktokcdn.com is part of the public domain. The court-created documents are works of the federal government, and under copyright law, are automatically placed in the public domain and may be shared without legal restriction. sf16-va.tiktokcdn.com

TikTok Calls Ban Attempts by U.S. Government Unlawful 

Tiktok Inc., and ByteDance LTD., v. Merrick B. Garland Update Court Filing, retrieved on May 7, 2024, is part of HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series. You can jump to any part in this filing here. This part is 1 of 11. 1. Congress has taken the unprecedented step of expressly singling out and banning TikTok: a vibrant online forum for protected speech and expression used by 170 million Americans to create, share, and view videos over the Internet. For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than 1 billion people worldwide. 2. That law — the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (the “Act”) — is unconstitutional. Banning TikTok is so obviously unconstitutional, in fact, that even the Act’s sponsors recognized that reality, and therefore have tried mightily to depict the law not as a ban at all, but merely a regulation of TikTok’s ownership. According to its sponsors, the Act responds to TikTok’s ultimate ownership by ByteDance Ltd., a company with Chinese subsidiaries whose employees support various ByteDance businesses, including TikTok. They claim that the Act is not a ban because it offers ByteDance a choice: divest TikTok’s U.S. business or be shut down.[1] 3. But in reality, there is no choice. The “qualified divestiture” demanded by the Act to allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States is simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally. And certainly not on the 270-day timeline required by the Act. Petitioners have repeatedly explained this to the U.S. government, and sponsors of the Act were aware that divestment is not possible. There is no question: the Act will force a shutdown of TikTok by January 19, 2025, silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere. 4. Of course, even if a “qualified divestiture” were feasible, the Act would still be an extraordinary and unconstitutional assertion of power. If upheld, it would allow the government to decide that a company may no longer own and publish the innovative and unique speech platform it created. If Congress can do this, it can circumvent the First Amendment by invoking national security and ordering the publisher of any individual newspaper or website to sell to avoid being shut down. And for TikTok, any such divestiture would disconnect Americans from the rest of the global community on a platform devoted to shared content — an outcome fundamentally at odds with the Constitution’s commitment to both free speech and individual liberty. 5. There are good reasons why Congress has never before enacted a law like this. Consistent with the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of expression, the United States has long championed a free and open Internet — and the Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized that speech “conveyed over the Internet” fully qualifies for “the First Amendment’s protections.” 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, 600 U.S. 570, 587 (2023). And consistent with the fundamental principles of fairness and equal treatment rooted in the Bill of Attainder Clause and the Fifth Amendment, Congress has never before crafted a two-tiered speech regime with one set of rules for one named platform, and another set of rules for everyone else 6. In dramatic contrast with past enactments that sought to regulate constitutionally protected activity, Congress enacted these extreme measures without a single legislative finding. The Act does not articulate any threat posed by TikTok nor explain why TikTok should be excluded from evaluation under the standards Congress concurrently imposed on every other platform. Even the statements by individual Members of Congress and a congressional committee report merely indicate concern about the hypothetical possibility that TikTok could be misused in the future, without citing specific evidence — even though the platform has operated prominently in the United States since it was first launched in 2017. Those speculative concerns fall far short of what is required when First Amendment rights are at stake. 7. Nor is there any indication that Congress considered any number of less restrictive alternatives, such as those that Petitioners developed with the Executive Branch after government agencies began evaluating the security of U.S. user data and the risk of foreign government influence over the platform’s content as far back as 2019. While such concerns were never substantiated, Petitioners nevertheless worked with the government for four years on a voluntary basis to develop a framework to address the government’s concerns. 8. As part of this engagement, Petitioners have voluntarily invested more than $2 billion to build a system of technological and governance protections — sometimes referred to as “Project Texas” — to help safeguard U.S. user data and the integrity of the U.S. TikTok platform against foreign government influence. Petitioners have also made extraordinary, additional commitments in a 90-page draft National Security Agreement developed through negotiations with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”), including agreeing to a “shut-down option” that would give the government the authority to suspend TikTok in the United States if Petitioners violate certain obligations under the agreement. 9. Congress tossed this tailored agreement aside, in favor of the politically expedient and punitive approach of targeting for disfavor one publisher and speaker (TikTok Inc.), one speech forum (TikTok), and that forum’s ultimate owner (ByteDance Ltd.). Through the Act’s two-tiered structure, Congress consciously eschewed responsible industry-wide regulation and betrayed its punitive and discriminatory purpose. Congress provided every other company — however serious a threat to national security it might pose — paths to avoiding a ban, excluding only TikTok Inc. and ByteDance Ltd. Indeed, for any other company’s application to be banned, Congress mandated notice and a “public report” describing “the specific national security” concern, accompanied by supporting classified evidence. For Petitioners only, however, there is no statement of reasons and no supporting evidence, with any discussion of the justifications for a ban occurring only behind closed doors. 10. Congress must abide by the dictates of the Constitution even when it claims to be protecting against national security risks: “against [those] dangers . . . as against others, the principle of the right to free speech is always the same.” Abrams v. United States, 250 U.S. 616, 628 (1919) (Holmes, J., dissenting). Congress failed to do so here, and the Act should be enjoined. Jurisdictional Statement 11. Pursuant to Sections 3(a) and 3(b) of the Act, H.R. 815, div. H, 118th Cong., Pub. L. No. 118-50 (April 24, 2024), this Court has original and exclusive jurisdiction over this challenge to the constitutionality of the Act.[2] Continue Reading Here. About HackerNoon Legal PDF Series: We bring you the most important technical and insightful public domain court case filings.
This court case retrieved on May 7, 2024, from sf16-va.tiktokcdn.com is part of the public domain. The court-created documents are works of the federal government, and under copyright law, are automatically placed in the public domain and may be shared without legal restriction. [1] References to “TikTok Inc.” are to the specific U.S. corporate entity that is a Petitioner in this lawsuit and publishes the TikTok platform in the United States. References to “TikTok” are to the online platform, which includes both the TikTok mobile application and web browser experience. References to “ByteDance Ltd.” are to the specific Cayman Islandsincorporated holding company that is identified in the Act and is a Petitioner in this lawsuit. References to “ByteDance” are to the ByteDance group, inclusive of ByteDance Ltd. and relevant operating subsidiaries. TikTok Inc. and ByteDance. Ltd. are together referred to as “Petitioners. [2] A copy of the Act is attached to this Petition as Exhibit A. Because this Petition does not involve a challenge to any agency action, it is not governed by Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 15(a). Petitioners intend to file a separate motion regarding the procedures governing this original proceeding. Petitioners summarize the pertinent facts and claims below to facilitate this Court’s review consistent with the practice of a case-initiating pleading in a court of original jurisdiction, but reserve their rights to present additional facts and arguments in due course. Lead image by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash Tiktok Inc., and ByteDance LTD., v. Merrick B. Garland Update Court Filing, retrieved on May 7, 2024, is part of HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series. You can jump to any part in this filing here. This part is 1 of 11. Tiktok Inc., and ByteDance LTD., v. Merrick B. Garland Update Court Filing, retrieved on May 7, 2024, is part of HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series . You can jump to any part in this filing here . This part is 1 of 11. HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series here 1. Congress has taken the unprecedented step of expressly singling out and banning TikTok: a vibrant online forum for protected speech and expression used by 170 million Americans to create, share, and view videos over the Internet. For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than 1 billion people worldwide. 2. That law — the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (the “Act”) — is unconstitutional. Banning TikTok is so obviously unconstitutional, in fact, that even the Act’s sponsors recognized that reality, and therefore have tried mightily to depict the law not as a ban at all, but merely a regulation of TikTok’s ownership. According to its sponsors, the Act responds to TikTok’s ultimate ownership by ByteDance Ltd., a company with Chinese subsidiaries whose employees support various ByteDance businesses, including TikTok. They claim that the Act is not a ban because it offers ByteDance a choice: divest TikTok’s U.S. business or be shut down.[1] 3. But in reality, there is no choice. The “qualified divestiture” demanded by the Act to allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States is simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally. And certainly not on the 270-day timeline required by the Act. Petitioners have repeatedly explained this to the U.S. government, and sponsors of the Act were aware that divestment is not possible. There is no question: the Act will force a shutdown of TikTok by January 19, 2025, silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere. 4. Of course, even if a “qualified divestiture” were feasible, the Act would still be an extraordinary and unconstitutional assertion of power. If upheld, it would allow the government to decide that a company may no longer own and publish the innovative and unique speech platform it created. If Congress can do this, it can circumvent the First Amendment by invoking national security and ordering the publisher of any individual newspaper or website to sell to avoid being shut down. And for TikTok, any such divestiture would disconnect Americans from the rest of the global community on a platform devoted to shared content — an outcome fundamentally at odds with the Constitution’s commitment to both free speech and individual liberty. 5. There are good reasons why Congress has never before enacted a law like this. Consistent with the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of expression, the United States has long championed a free and open Internet — and the Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized that speech “conveyed over the Internet” fully qualifies for “the First Amendment’s protections.” 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, 600 U.S. 570, 587 (2023). And consistent with the fundamental principles of fairness and equal treatment rooted in the Bill of Attainder Clause and the Fifth Amendment, Congress has never before crafted a two-tiered speech regime with one set of rules for one named platform, and another set of rules for everyone else 6. In dramatic contrast with past enactments that sought to regulate constitutionally protected activity, Congress enacted these extreme measures without a single legislative finding. The Act does not articulate any threat posed by TikTok nor explain why TikTok should be excluded from evaluation under the standards Congress concurrently imposed on every other platform. Even the statements by individual Members of Congress and a congressional committee report merely indicate concern about the hypothetical possibility that TikTok could be misused in the future, without citing specific evidence — even though the platform has operated prominently in the United States since it was first launched in 2017. Those speculative concerns fall far short of what is required when First Amendment rights are at stake. 7. Nor is there any indication that Congress considered any number of less restrictive alternatives, such as those that Petitioners developed with the Executive Branch after government agencies began evaluating the security of U.S. user data and the risk of foreign government influence over the platform’s content as far back as 2019. While such concerns were never substantiated, Petitioners nevertheless worked with the government for four years on a voluntary basis to develop a framework to address the government’s concerns. 8. As part of this engagement, Petitioners have voluntarily invested more than $2 billion to build a system of technological and governance protections — sometimes referred to as “Project Texas” — to help safeguard U.S. user data and the integrity of the U.S. TikTok platform against foreign government influence. Petitioners have also made extraordinary, additional commitments in a 90-page draft National Security Agreement developed through negotiations with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”), including agreeing to a “shut-down option” that would give the government the authority to suspend TikTok in the United States if Petitioners violate certain obligations under the agreement. 9. Congress tossed this tailored agreement aside, in favor of the politically expedient and punitive approach of targeting for disfavor one publisher and speaker (TikTok Inc.), one speech forum (TikTok), and that forum’s ultimate owner (ByteDance Ltd.). Through the Act’s two-tiered structure, Congress consciously eschewed responsible industry-wide regulation and betrayed its punitive and discriminatory purpose. Congress provided every other company — however serious a threat to national security it might pose — paths to avoiding a ban, excluding only TikTok Inc. and ByteDance Ltd. Indeed, for any other company’s application to be banned, Congress mandated notice and a “public report” describing “the specific national security” concern, accompanied by supporting classified evidence. For Petitioners only, however, there is no statement of reasons and no supporting evidence, with any discussion of the justifications for a ban occurring only behind closed doors. 10. Congress must abide by the dictates of the Constitution even when it claims to be protecting against national security risks: “against [those] dangers . . . as against others, the principle of the right to free speech is always the same.” Abrams v. United States, 250 U.S. 616, 628 (1919) (Holmes, J., dissenting). Congress failed to do so here, and the Act should be enjoined. Jurisdictional Statement 11. Pursuant to Sections 3(a) and 3(b) of the Act, H.R. 815, div. H, 118th Cong., Pub. L. No. 118-50 (April 24, 2024), this Court has original and exclusive jurisdiction over this challenge to the constitutionality of the Act.[2] Continue Reading Here. Continue Reading Here . Here About HackerNoon Legal PDF Series: We bring you the most important technical and insightful public domain court case filings. This court case retrieved on May 7, 2024, from sf16-va.tiktokcdn.com is part of the public domain. The court-created documents are works of the federal government, and under copyright law, are automatically placed in the public domain and may be shared without legal restriction. About HackerNoon Legal PDF Series: We bring you the most important technical and insightful public domain court case filings. This court case retrieved on May 7, 2024, from sf16-va.tiktokcdn.com is part of the public domain. The court-created documents are works of the federal government, and under copyright law, are automatically placed in the public domain and may be shared without legal restriction. sf16-va.tiktokcdn.com [1] References to “TikTok Inc.” are to the specific U.S. corporate entity that is a Petitioner in this lawsuit and publishes the TikTok platform in the United States. References to “TikTok” are to the online platform, which includes both the TikTok mobile application and web browser experience. References to “ByteDance Ltd.” are to the specific Cayman Islandsincorporated holding company that is identified in the Act and is a Petitioner in this lawsuit. References to “ByteDance” are to the ByteDance group, inclusive of ByteDance Ltd. and relevant operating subsidiaries. TikTok Inc. and ByteDance. Ltd. are together referred to as “Petitioners. [2] A copy of the Act is attached to this Petition as Exhibit A. Because this Petition does not involve a challenge to any agency action, it is not governed by Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 15(a). Petitioners intend to file a separate motion regarding the procedures governing this original proceeding. Petitioners summarize the pertinent facts and claims below to facilitate this Court’s review consistent with the practice of a case-initiating pleading in a court of original jurisdiction, but reserve their rights to present additional facts and arguments in due course. Lead image by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash Lead image by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash Solen Feyissa on Unsplash

TikTok Fires Back at Congress, Calls U.S. Ban Unconstitutional 

TikTok কংগ্রেসে পাল্টা আক্রমণ, মার্কিন নিষেধাজ্ঞাকে অসাংবিধানিক বলে

TikTok schießt zurück auf den Kongress und bezeichnet US-Verbot als verfassungswidrig

TikTok responde al Congreso y califica de inconstitucional la prohibición de Estados Unidos

TikTok riposte au Congrès et qualifie l'interdiction américaine d'inconstitutionnelle

टिकटॉक ने कांग्रेस पर पलटवार करते हुए अमेरिकी प्रतिबंध को असंवैधानिक बताया

TikTokが議会に反撃、米国の禁止は違憲と主張

TikTok, 의회에서 반격하고 미국 금지령이 위헌이라고 주장

TikTok dispara de volta ao Congresso e considera a proibição dos EUA inconstitucional

TikTok ответил Конгрессу и назвал запрет США неконституционным

TikTok Kongre'ye Cevap Verdi ve ABD Yasağının Anayasaya Aykırı Olduğunu Söyledi

TikTok phản đối Quốc hội, gọi lệnh cấm của Hoa Kỳ là vi hiến

TikTok 回击国会，称美国禁令违宪

Pioneering Privacy Protection for the SHIB Community In a monumental development for privacy and security in the blockchain space, SHIB has integrated sophisticated encryption technology into its ecosystem. This groundbreaking move establishes a new precedent for data protection among cryptocurrencies and cements Shiba Inu's reputation as an innovator within the Web3 landscape. As the popularity of blockchain and cryptocurrency grows, so too do the risks of cyberattacks and data breaches. In 2021 alone, over $10 billion worth of cryptocurrency was stolen due to hacks and exploits. With billions of dollars and sensitive personal information at stake in the crypto economy, the need for robust privacy and security measures has never been more urgent. SHIB's implementation of cutting-edge encryption standards puts user protection front and center, addressing this pressing need head-on through technical leadership. By prioritizing privacy from the earliest stages of development, the project is setting the bar for responsible stewardship in an increasingly decentralized financial system. Implementing Best-in-Class Encryption Technologies At the core of SHIB's new privacy infrastructure is Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) - considered the "holy grail" of encryption due to its ability to enable computation on encrypted data without decryption. Leveraging FHE in collaboration with Zama, a recognized leader in web3 encryption, SHIB can now offer its community unparalleled on-chain privacy. FHE allows for sensitive data like transaction details, wallet balances, and personal information to be encrypted end-to-end throughout its entire lifecycle. This prevents any unintended exposure, even to nodes and validators participating in network operations. Computations can still occur without ever accessing the raw, unencrypted data. All user activity and transactions on the SHIB network will benefit from this additional layer of security powered by the $TREAT token. Participants can now shield sensitive information from potential data breaches while still enjoying the convenience of the SHIB ecosystem. The integration of military-grade encryption establishes SHIB as a pioneer in blockchain security. Emphasizing SHIB's Commitment to Its Community This development underscores SHIB's dedication to protecting its community of users and developers as it continues expanding into a fully-fledged nation state. With millions of holders worldwide, SHIB recognizes its responsibility to safeguard the interests of its constituents. "We know that in order to deliver against our vision for a nation state, we need to empower our Shibizens to operate with the full confidence that their activity is both private and secure," said Shytoshi Kusama, the pseudonymous lead developer of SHIB. "This partnership with Zama and the implementation of FHE is a seminal milestone in our journey to fulfill that promise. Privacy and security must be foundational if we are to build the decentralized future we envision." By prioritizing user wellbeing through innovative solutions, SHIB demonstrates the principles of community, empowerment and shared prosperity that have fueled its rise. This commitment to responsible stewardship through technical leadership sets an example that others in the industry would be wise to follow. Unlocking New Use Cases and Growth Potential With best-in-class privacy and security now underpinning the network, SHIB is poised to unlock new use cases and exponential growth. FHE paves the way for confidential smart contracts, encrypted machine learning, and other innovative applications that were previously not possible due to privacy limitations. For example, confidential smart contracts powered by FHE could enable entirely new classes of financial applications like encrypted lending platforms and tokenized asset exchanges that preserve user privacy. Encrypted machine learning models could analyze user behavior and preferences privately to improve services. As one of the most widely-held and recognized cryptocurrencies globally, SHIB has both the resources and passionate community needed to catalyze mainstream adoption of this cutting-edge technology. By setting a new standard for privacy and security, this development solidifies SHIB's position as a trailblazer within the blockchain industry. Ushering in a New Era of Privacy and Innovation in Web3 With its substantial market presence and global community, SHIB's integration of sophisticated encryption serves as a seminal moment for privacy and security across Web3. This technological leap will reverberate throughout the blockchain landscape and beyond, establishing a new benchmark for data protection best practices. Other industry players will be challenged to follow SHIB's lead, raising the standard of privacy and security measures ecosystem-wide. Major centralized services holding user funds and data will face public pressure to adopt comparable protections. Over time, FHE and other advanced cryptographic techniques may become expected rather than exceptional. By daring to implement radically innovative solutions to solve pressing needs within its community, SHIB continues to demonstrate the creative thinking and technical proficiency that has fueled its meteoric rise. This ability to recognize emerging challenges and rapidly deploy state-of-the-art tools to address them solidifies SHIB's capabilities as a builder of next-generation blockchain infrastructure for the Web3 era. The Future is Private As an increasing portion of our lives and livelihoods migrate online, data privacy will become a human right no less fundamental than others we hold sacred. Those who wish to lead responsibly in this new digital age must place security and consent at the forefront of product design. By integrating the strongest encryption available today, SHIB establishes itself at the vanguard of this movement. In doing so, it has thrown down the gauntlet for all others who would claim to champion decentralization and user empowerment. Privacy by design must be the new standard if we hope to realize the full promise of an open and just digital future for all. With its latest innovation, SHIB proves itself not only a technical powerhouse, but a moral one as well - committed to building the types of technologies that protect basic liberties even as they unlock unprecedented potential. If other projects follow SHIB's pioneering lead, then perhaps the blockchain industry really can help usher in a new era defined by privacy, security and user sovereignty for all. The future remains unwritten, but it starts here. Don’t forget to like and share the story! This author is an independent contributor publishing via our brand-as-author program. Be it through direct compensation, media partnerships, or networking, the author has a vested interest in the company/ies mentioned in this story. HackerNoon has reviewed the report for quality, but the claims herein belong to the author. #DYOR Vested Interest Disclosure:

Shiba Inu Ushers in a New Era of Privacy and Security for Web3

শিবা ইনু ওয়েব3-এর জন্য গোপনীয়তা এবং নিরাপত্তার নতুন যুগে প্রবেশ করছে

Shiba Inu läutet eine neue Ära der Privatsphäre und Sicherheit für Web3 ein

Shiba Inu marca el comienzo de una nueva era de privacidad y seguridad para Web3

Shiba Inu inaugure une nouvelle ère de confidentialité et de sécurité pour le Web3

शीबा इनु ने वेब3 के लिए गोपनीयता और सुरक्षा के एक नए युग की शुरुआत की

柴犬が Web3 のプライバシーとセキュリティの新時代を到来

Shiba Inu는 Web3를 위한 개인 정보 보호 및 보안의 새로운 시대를 열었습니다.

Shiba Inu inaugura uma nova era de privacidade e segurança para Web3

Сиба-ину открывает новую эру конфиденциальности и безопасности для Web3

Shiba Inu, Web3 için Yeni Gizlilik ve Güvenlik Çağının Başlangıcını Başlatıyor

Shiba Inu mở ra kỷ nguyên mới về quyền riêng tư và bảo mật cho Web3

Shiba Inu 开创了 Web3 隐私和安全的新时代

Empowering Blockchain Communities: The Rise of DAO Governance In a significant leap for blockchain technology, a revolutionary new system for community-driven governance has been introduced. This marks a pivotal moment in the blockchain world, reflecting a growing trend towards decentralization and increased community participation in decision-making processes. At the heart of this evolution lies the concept of a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), a structure designed to democratize decision-making within blockchain ecosystems. This system enables holders of the native cryptocurrency to participate actively in governance, shaping the future direction of the project. The Role of Transparency and Accountability Transparency and accountability form the bedrock of this new governance model. It's guided by principles that emphasize security, continuous improvement, and social responsibility. These values ensure that every decision aligns with the collective interests of the community, fostering a sense of shared responsibility and engagement. Inclusive Governance: A Step-by-Step Guide Participation in this DAO is straightforward and accessible. It involves holders of the cryptocurrency voting on proposals through a user-friendly platform. The voting power is directly proportional to the amount of cryptocurrency held, emphasizing the importance of each member's contribution to the collective decision-making process. Special Council: Steering the DAO An integral part of this ecosystem is the Special Council, a group responsible for overseeing and guiding the DAO. This council acts as a liaison between the community and the foundation, ensuring that proposals align with the overall goals and values of the ecosystem. It includes members with diverse backgrounds in blockchain technology, finance, and media, bringing a wealth of expertise and insight to the table. Voices from the Special Council Members of the Special Council have expressed enthusiasm about their roles, highlighting the importance of applying academic research and industry experience to enhance DAO governance. Their varied expertise and commitment to the project's success underscore the DAO's potential for groundbreaking innovation in decentralized governance. Decentralization Revolution: The Horizen DAO's Groundbreaking Governance Model In a world increasingly leaning towards decentralization, the Horizen DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) stands out as a beacon of progress. This innovative approach transforms how decisions are made within the blockchain ecosystem, ushering in a new era of community-driven governance. At its core, Horizen DAO embodies principles crucial for the modern digital age: transparency, accountability, security, and above all, community involvement. It's a bold step towards empowering every member of the ecosystem, from developers to node operators and cryptocurrency holders, to have a say in the project's trajectory. Democracy in Action: The Voting Mechanism Participation in Horizen DAO is a seamless process, leveraging the Horizen EON, an EVM-compatible sidechain. The unique aspect here is the proportional voting power, determined by the amount of $ZEN held. This system ensures that every voice, no matter how small, contributes to the collective decision-making process. The Special Council: A Strategic Oversight Body The Special Council is a group of experts providing oversight and guidance for the Horizen DAO. This council includes accomplished individuals from diverse fields like gaming, finance, media, and blockchain. Their role is to review improvement proposals, address security threats, and act as a bridge between the Horizen community and the foundation. Diverse Minds Steering the DAO The council members, appointed by the Foundation Director(s), bring a wealth of experience and insight. From Benjamin Charbit's gaming expertise to Brian Rose's financial acumen and Elias Ahonen's blockchain scholarship, each member contributes a unique perspective, enriching the DAO's governance. This collaborative governance model paves the way for a more innovative and resilient ecosystem. It encourages continuous improvement and adaptation, ensuring that the protocol remains at the forefront of blockchain technology. Joining the Conversation The Horizen community invites all $ZEN holders to participate in this pioneering governance model. It's not just about voting on proposals; it's about being an active part of a movement that is shaping the future of decentralized governance. The Future of Blockchain Governance The Horizen DAO represents a significant shift in how blockchain projects are managed and developed. It's a testament to the power of decentralization and the potential for a more democratic and equitable digital future. The Horizen DAO is more than just a governance model; it's a symbol of a larger movement towards a world where power and decision-making are distributed among those who are truly invested in the success of the ecosystem. It stands as a model for others to follow, showcasing the true potential of decentralized, community-driven governance in the blockchain world. Don’t forget to like and share the story.

The DAO Effect: A Paradigm Shift in Blockchain Decision Making

DAO প্রভাব: ব্লকচেইন সিদ্ধান্ত গ্রহণে একটি দৃষ্টান্ত পরিবর্তন

Der DAO-Effekt: Ein Paradigmenwechsel in der Blockchain-Entscheidungsfindung

El efecto DAO: un cambio de paradigma en la toma de decisiones blockchain

L'effet DAO : un changement de paradigme dans la prise de décision en matière de blockchain

डीएओ प्रभाव: ब्लॉकचेन निर्णय लेने में एक आदर्श बदलाव

DAO 効果: ブロックチェーンの意思決定におけるパラダイムシフト

DAO 효과: 블록체인 의사결정의 패러다임 전환

O efeito DAO: uma mudança de paradigma na tomada de decisões em blockchain

Эффект DAO: смена парадигмы в принятии решений на основе блокчейна

DAO Etkisi: Blockchain Karar Vermede Bir Paradigma Değişimi

Hiệu ứng DAO: Sự thay đổi mô hình trong việc ra quyết định của Blockchain

DAO 效应：区块链决策的范式转变

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