Kleros: The Blockchain Dispute Resolution Layer

Unprecedented strides have been gained in the blockchain industry, and to maintain this momentum, it's important that challenges are tackled and resolved effectively.
As with any other industry, disagreements will always arise, and having a system in place that can settle such disputes will ensure that everyone gets a feeling of being treated fairly.

Kleros is a DApp on the ethereum blockchain that ensures that justice prevails, and everyone can have a means of settling disputes fairly, based on facts presented.
It makes uses of smart contracts and a jury to dish out verdicts, which the smart contract then executes automatically.

WHAT KLEROS IS ALL ABOUT
To be able to make use of Kleros, users need to opt in, and also clearly state the number of jurors they want to handle their cases, if it arises.
Relevant subcourts will also need to be chosen. An ecommerce case will be treated in the ecommerce subcourt, and no where else.

Options from which jurors can pick, also need to be provided and clearly stated.

Jurors are chosen from a deep pool of relevant professionals around the world, and they show their interest in being part of a particular case by depositing tokens. The number of tokens deposited has a direct bearing on probability of them being selected.

After jurors go through evidence, they then proceed to cast their votes. These votes are not made visible on the blockchain, so that it doesn't influence the decision of those that are yet to vote, and they cannot change their votes, once they have been cast.

Arbitration fees are collected to avoid spamming of the system, and also to reward jurors. The party to pay arbitration fees is determined by the arbitrable smart contact.

In a situation where one party is dissatisfied with the verdict, they can appeal the decision. However, the cost of appeals increases exponentially with every new appeal filed. Jurors are also not rewarded, when a case is appealed.

Jurors are incentivised to vote fairly. This ensures that the system will thrive and justice can actually be served. To ensure that they vote honestly, jurors that vote differently from majority of the group lose a part of their tokens staked. This acts as a way of keeping jurors in check and ensuring everyone is treated fairly.

Jurors will need to show their votes and salt; the smart contract goes ahead to verify that it's a match to information provided earlier.

Kleros also ensures that the ecosystem can't be easily bought over, leading to influence of verdicts. Bribing ones way out will require a huge amount of resources that will be greater than the amount in the case itself, in most cases.

As the platform grows, the need to add more subcourts will arise, and things like this wil be voted upon, by making use of a liquid voting mechanism.

Voting can also be subcourt specific.

Some types of disputes that can be settled on the Kleros platform are escrow related services such as those that make a part payment, and certain conditions need to be met, before the remainder is released. Other industries are ecommerce, insurance, curated lists, crowd funding, micro tasks and freelancing.

Token
The token of the Kleros platform is known as the Pinakion (PNK) Token. Total number will not exceed 1,000,000,000.

Use Case
Isaac decided to purchase a notebook from an online vendor and they both agreed to make use of an escrow service. It's also agreed that any dispute will be resolved by a Kleros court.

Isaac deposits his funds with the escrow service, and the vendor sends the laptop.

After a long while, Isaac is yet to get his notebook and opens up a dispute on Kleros.

The information is updated on the portal, and professionals that are conversant with the ecrow service shown their interest by depositing tokens.
These jurors are spread far and wide, across the world, and are selected randomly, strictly sticking to the number of jurors selected by both parties.

After jurors, selected from a large pool are sent the needed information, they cast their votes and majority vote in favour of Isaacs funds being released to him.

Isaac is glad that he can have his money back and it wasn't lost.

The online vendor can also decide to appeal the decision.

Conclusion
Kleros will ensure that the blockchain as a whole will grow, because users will feel comfortable, knowing that if a situation arises that they aren't comfortable with, they can always add a clause to make use of Kleros. Justice can also be served at a really fast pace, and at a little cost.

Kleros can help to reduce the cost related to dispute resolution by bringing down all the barriers. No longer do all cases need to involve lawyers, the court room and long legal documents. Every case can get a redress and be attended to in a few days, at a much more smaller cost.

Small businesses don't have to spend a huge chunk of their revenue battling with customers. They have alot remaining, if they need to take care of legal issues, and they can now do this much more easily, and at affordable rates. It brings down all barriers and promotes growth.

Bigger businesses can also afford to reduce their budgets pertaining to legalities, seeing some cases can be delegated to Kleros.
This ensures that the profit margin soars.

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