Category Archives: Consumer Law
Emanuele Scattarreggia, ‘Protecting Consumers and the Market in the Cyborg Era’
ABSTRACT The digital economy is experiencing an unprecedented phase of transformation, driven by the relentless evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). These technologies have transcended from being mere tools of convenience to becoming integral components of daily life, ushering in an era of consumer cyborgification, where humans increasingly merge with […]
Ram, Prince, Roberts, Fox and Spector-Bagdady, ‘The Precarious Future of Consumer Genetic Privacy’
ABSTRACT After declaring bankruptcy in March 2025, direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing company 23andMe sold the data of over 15 million people around the world to TTAM Research Institute, a non-profit created by 23andMe’s founder and long-time CEO. The organization outbid Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, which was originally named the successful bidder in the bankruptcy 5 auction. 23andMe’s […]
‘Can Consumers Roar Back?’
Haggai Porat, ‘Behavior-Based Price Discrimination and Data Protection in the Age of Algorithms’, available at SSRN (31 October 2022); Haggai Porat, ‘Bargaining with Algorithms: An Experiment on Algorithmic Price Discrimination and Consumer and Data Protection Laws’, available at SSRN (29 April 2025). A central interest in consumer law is the harm AI algorithms might cause […]
Eric Orts, ‘Consumer Climate Contracts’
ABSTRACT This chapter reprises a theory of ‘climate contracts’ in the tradition of social and natural contract theory, with a specific focus on the role that consumers can play in advancing solutions to what scientists have called the climate emergency. Alternative approaches and strategies include consumer-produced climate information, consumer lawsuits, climate-oriented procurement policies, and various […]
Jim Hawkins, ‘Is It Credit?’
ABSTRACT Earned wage access companies advance money to workers based on wages they have already earned but have not yet been paid. Then, one of three things happens to reimburse the earned wage access provider: (1) the employer sends the provider money directly, (2) the provider withdraws money from the worker’s bank account on payday, […]
Pietro Mattioli, ‘Navigating the Complexities of the DSA’s Enforcement Framework: Sincere Cooperation in Action?’
ABSTRACT The Digital Services Act (DSA) represents an important development in the EU regulation of online services, tackling online disinformation and harmful content. However, its success depends on effective enforcement across the European Union. As the DSA enters its implementation phase, its enforcement regime is under scrutiny, particularly the cooperation mechanisms between Member States’ competent […]
Mx Yibo Li, ‘Characterising Ecosystem Power: the Use of Pricing and Contractual Leverages’
ABSTRACT This paper presents a conceptualisation and characterisation of ecosystem power, distinguishing it from market power and bargaining power. Unlike market power, which primarily concerns external relationships of a firm, and bargaining power, which addresses bilateral relationships, ecosystem power operates through multi-sided relationships, shaping pricing and contractual structures and determining welfare distribution among stakeholders within […]
‘Is the front door of a flat a fixture?’
In Marlborough Knightsbridge Management Ltd v Fivaz ([2021] EWCA Civ 989), the English Court of Appeal had to consider whether the front door of a flat was a fixture. The lease in question contained a tenant’s covenant not to remove landlord’s fixtures without getting the landlord’s consent … (more) [Michael Lower, Hong Kong Land Law […]
Mateusz Grochowski, ‘Shadow Contract Law in the Platform Economy’
ABSTRACT The emergence of the platform economy was a momentous development in early 21st-century capitalism, concentrating vast economic and political power within a small number of market entities. This power, coupled with limited oversight, has given platforms the unique capacity to establish and enforce rules governing horizontal contracts among users. These rules parallel state-made contract […]
Gregory Dickinson, ‘Law Proofing the Future’
ABSTRACT Lawmakers today face continuous calls to ‘future proof’ the legal system against generative artificial intelligence, algorithmic decision-making, targeted advertising, and all manner of emerging technologies. This Article takes a contrarian stance: It is not the law that needs bolstering for the future, but the future that needs protection from the law. From the printing […]