(Yicai Global) June 30 -- A court in Hangzhou, capital of China's eastern Zhejiang province, has become the country's first to use legally valid electronic evidence using blockchain technology.

The court, which focuses on cases related to the internet sector, used the evidence to give a verdict in an online copyright dispute, state-backed Xinhua News Agency reported.

The plaintiff conducted an automatic capture of infringing webpages and the source code through a third party platform and uploaded them and the logs to Factom's blockchain and through the use of related technology.

Blockchain, a digital ledger which holds public records of transactions, can track who supplies what data, while AI can learn from the information supplied, he said.

The court stated that the blockchain technology complied with relevant standards to ensure the reliability of the electronic data. On the premise that the technical verification is consistent and other evidence can be mutually verified, such electronic data can be used as evidence for the infringement in the case.

Established in 2017, Hangzhou's internet court is the first pilot court in China to focus on hearings involving internet-related cases. The court's hearing process fully relied on internet technology to realize the online process of litigation, case filing, evidence presentation, court hearing, verdict, and execution.

Editor: William Clegg