Kleros - A Decentralized Dispute Resolution Platform, Built on the Blockchain

yandot (67)in #technology • 6 years ago

Recently, a good friend of mine got into a sticky situation with a client of his, let's call this friend of mine Cabel, and we call the other person Cabal got into the sticky situation with, Deadpool. So, Cable finally quit his job to focus on his shoe crafting business full-time, and he is in need of a website. So, someone recommended Deadpool for the job, and Cable hired Dp. But the agreement between Cable and Deadpool is a gentleman agreement, where Deadpool promised to develop the website within a stipulated time, Cable wanting to ensure Deadpool had all the resources he needed, paid 100% of what Deadpool charged for the job. Fast forward a few weeks later, Deadpool got another job while working on Cable's website, and decided to take it, juggling both projects slowed him down, and he failed to deliver on the day he was meant to deliver, and weeks after, he submitted the first draft of the work, all the changes and adjustments Cable wanted to be effected on the website, Deadpool hasn't been able to get it done. Cable isn't happy, and so is Deadpool, but what could they have done better?

Now, you or someone you know may have experienced this or something similar to this, money exchange hands, and the agreement is vaguely trashed out and no third party to intervene should in case something goes wrong. Because the cash volume involved is quite low, possibly hundreds and few thousand dollars, clearly, a lawyer cannot step in because both parties may not be able to afford one.

The interesting thing is that this post is about a viable solution that can help settle disputes between individual carrying out small-scale transactions. From the original post found here this is my entry to the @originalworks contest.

About Kleros

Kleros is a decentralized opt-in service that resolves disputes between two parties, with the help of its vast network of jurors that are specialized in various industry categories. With the use of resources, such as smart contracts, and tactics that enable peaceful resolution between the disputing parties. It is no secret that adjudication is both time consuming and expensive, that not all disputes can go through that painful process, especially because of the expenses involved, but Kleros, is a solution that promises to be cover both parties in the event of a dispute arising from a breach in contract to what was originally agreed between both parties. Hence, ensuring both parties live up to the terms of the agreement.

It may come as no surprise to us at the internet penetration rate all across the world is enormous, and with this development, a lot of small businesses are sprouting up all around the world, and with this growing number of new ventures, comes along the number of disputes, disputes. Some of these disputes may be worth millions of dollars and others may not be substantial enough to be settled in the court of law, hence an alternative solution has to be birthed to solve this problem, and that is what Kleros is here to solve.

How it Works

Being a dispute resolution platform, upon the creation of a contract with Kleros as your adjudication protocol, all sensitive informative will be sent to Kleros, this information will contain the number of jurors, the outcome of the contract and the category of the contract, either E-commerce, Transportation or Insurance after which this data will be secured on the blockchain. Should a dispute arise, one can rest assured that it will be dealt with jurors that are knowledgeable in the given industry.

^{Source: White Paper - Page 3}

In a situation when one of the party is not happy with the deliverable of the contract, then the jurors step in, they weigh the evidence and make a decision, hereby supporting one of either party. The party with the most support wins, and an action is taken, by either asking the defaulter to redo the job or promptly refunding the contractor.

How will Kleros change the Landscape of Small Disputes

Just like the scenario, we explored earlier in this post between Cable and Deadpool, with the help of Kleros both parties will create a contract on their dealings and have a set of jurors that are familiar with freelance, business contract and technology to preside over their dealings. And should in case anything goes wrong, then they will highlight the necessary steps that both Deadpool and Cable will need to undergo, in order for all parties to be happy in the end.

Kleros, will revolutionise the way business is done on the digital space, especially in the freelance and digital industries, when two parties from different parts of the world agree to enter a contract in the delivery of a given service, if all goes well, both parties are happy, but if things go south, the jury is called upon for peaceful settlement. Small business will work better with kleros2018.