Contracts and Automation: Exploring the Normativity of Automation in the Context of U.S. Contract Law and E.U. Consumer Protection Directives

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel D. Barnhizer
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Protection ◽  
Contract Law

Principles of Internet contracting: Illuminating the shadows

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 208-232
Author(s):  
Caterina Gardiner
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Consumer Protection ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
Contract Law ◽  
Contract Formation ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Relationship

The common law that applies to Internet contract formation could be said to exist in a penumbra—a grey area of partial illumination between darkness and light—where it may be possible to lose sight of established contract law principles. Internet contracts raise difficult issues relating to their formation that challenge traditional contract doctrine. Analysis of case law from the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland illustrates that the courts have not applied contract formation doctrine in a principled or consistent way. There is a tendency for decisions to be reached for policy reasons, for example, to facilitate the development of e-commerce, or to achieve a result that is considered fair, rather than on sound principles of contract law. There may also be some uncertainty arising from the relationship between statutory consumer protection rules and common law contract formation doctrine. The enforceability of Internet contracts in the common law courts remains unpredictable. This article argues that although Internet contracting may raise distinctive contract formation issues, it is possible for the judiciary to invoke the inherent flexibility of the common law, to take into account the specific characteristics of Internet contracts, while still adhering to established contract law doctrine and maintaining a principled approach.

scholarly journals The Applicability of the Digital Content Directive and Sales of Goods Directive to Goods with Digital Elements

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 23-31
Author(s):  
Karin Sein
Keyword(s):  
Operating System ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Consumer Protection ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Navigation System ◽  
Consumer Goods ◽  
Contract Law ◽  
Digital Content ◽  
Party Autonomy ◽  
Digital Services

There is an ongoing trend to develop inter-connected or ‘smart’ consumer goods, which either contain digital content (such as software) or use digital services for certain of their functions (as with the navigation system of a smart car). The new Digital Content Directive and Sales of Goods Directive create a legal presumption that the seller of smart goods is contractually liable not only for the tangible item and embedded digital software but also for the inter-connected digital services. However, the article shows that much room remains for party autonomy as express agreement in a sales contract may limit the liability of the seller even for the operating system of smart goods and, thereby, override reasonable consumer expectations. The situation becomes even more complicated when the ‘digital element’ of the goods consists of free and open-source software: in these cases, the ‘separately bought’ digital content does not even fall within the scope of the Digital Content Directive, with the result that the seller is not liable for the digital content under the Sales of Goods Directive and the digital content provider is not liable for it under the Digital Content Directive. Therefore, the article argues that the new contract-law package does not raise the level of consumer protection in respect of smart goods as much as it might initially seem to.

Weaker Party Protection

2021 ◽  
pp. 272-335
Author(s):  
Martijn W. Hesselink
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Protection ◽  
Contract Law ◽  
European Contract ◽  
The Core ◽  
General Rules ◽  
Different Types ◽  
European Contract Law

This Chapter discusses the question of whether contract law can and should differentiate between different types of contracting parties according to their relational or social weakness. Should contract law protect certain weaker parties, through the implementation of measures ranging from general rules against unfair exploitation or abuse of circumstances to more specific sets of rules protecting certain categories of contracting parties, such as workers, tenants, and consumers? And if so, who should count as worthy of protection and what kinds of protection should they be granted? Given that consumer protection has been central to EU contract law, this question goes to the core of the justifiability of the European contract law acquis.

The Regulation of Unfair Terms and Consumer Protection in Thailand

2020 ◽  
pp. 430-446
Author(s):  
Sakda THANITCUL
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Consumer Protection ◽  
Contract Law ◽  
Protective Mechanisms ◽  
Judicial Control ◽  
Indirect Control ◽  
Penalty Clauses ◽  
Unfair Terms ◽  
General Contract Law ◽  
Restraint Of Trade

The chapter gives an account of consumer protection in Thailand and, more specifically, how Thai contract law deals with extremely one-sided, onerous, or otherwise unfair terms, such as exclusions or limitations of liability, penalty clauses, or restraint of trade clauses. It discusses the overt judicial control of such terms under the 1997 Unfair Contract Terms Act and other protective mechanisms under specific consumer legislation. It also analyses how the Thai courts have exercised a more indirect control by employing traditional general contract law doctrines, including the rules on procedural fairness, in order to protect parties against the imposition of unfair terms. Empirical evidence is provided to show that effective overall consumer protection has been established since the 1990s.

scholarly journals A Half-built House? The New Consumer Sales Directive Assessed as Contract Law

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 3-8
Author(s):  
Kåre Lilleholt
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Protection ◽  
Contract Law ◽  
Member States ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
New Consumer

  The new Consumer Sales Directive (2019/771 EU) is a total harmonisation directive intended to make cross-border sales more attractive to sellers by ensuring that the level of consumer‑protection rules differs less among Member States. The legislation process resulted, however, in several exceptions to this approach of total harmonisation. These exceptions, coupled with the fact that the directive does not regulate the consumer’s obligations under the sales contract, means that sellers must still be prepared to grapple with considerable differences in the level of consumer protection when offering their goods to consumers in other countries than their own. The Europeanisation of contract law seems to remain a contentious arena. 

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