Two of the big legal/regulatory risks I see being a potentially big issue for Steem.it:
SEC or state-level securities regulators trying to regulate the issuance of tokens. When I've explained tokens to people, a not-uncommon response is "Oh, so it's kind of like options in a startup?" If the SEC sees token sales that way, there could be a problem, since token issuances might be characterized as securities issuances (which comes with heavy regulatory requirements). Great analysis of this by Marco Santori on Coindesk. Steem seems better positioned than other apps, given the broad functionality of its tokens, but you never know...
Copyright. I'm definitely no expert on this, but industry incumbents have a history of going after new technology platforms that facilitate widespread copyright violations by users (think VCRs and TeVo, music sharing, Google Images and Books). Some protections for third-parties have evolved, and you could argue that Steem.it poses no different copyright risks than Google, Facebook, Reddit, etc. currently do. But the significant and visible monetary rewards that Steem.it offers, as well as the immutable nature of the blockchain (e.g., do takedown notices become ineffective?), this does feel a bit different.
One thing seems clear. Cryptocurrency lawyers will have a busy next few years :)
Thanks for your cogent comment and Marco Santori's article that takes us even deeper into the heart of the matter.
You definitely earned an upvote, follow and a hat tip!
Indeed, cryptocurrency law would seem to be the next hot job market.
Thank you kindly.
Found another article here on Steemit touching on the copyright takedown issue. https://steemit.com/copyright/@sigmajin/a-word-on-steemit-and-dcma-takedowns-some-food-for-thought.
This has definitely peaked my interest - might have to do a more detailed post later on the copyright issues at play...
I for one would be interested in posts about copyright issues, especially about posts on Steemit. As a musician who plays covers (other musicians compositions), copyright is problematic because of the expense and legal hastle involved just to play a song. With the music business in a complete state of disarray and confusion, the arrival of the blockchain may provide solutions by eliminating the myriad middlemen who profit from collecting $ for the musicians and taking a cut. A blockchain with smart contracts could provide direct remuneration to the artist.
Steemit has enough worries as it is, but it would be great if I could play a cover and have a correct percentage of Steemit rewards go to paying the copyright owners. Steemit would be in competeition with Spotify, iTunes and other organizations, but a blockchain solution might simplify things, hopefully;))
I took a look at sigmajin's article, and yes, you should do that detailed post;)