Category Archives: Consumer Law
‘Twitter’s New Liquidated Damages Clause’
We recently posted about Twitter’s venue clause in its latest Terms of Service (ToS), which went live on November 15th and can be found here. There is another aspect to the new ToS that has gained some notoriety. It is Twitter’s new liquidated damages provision, which provides as follows: ‘Liquidated Damages: Protecting our users’ data […]
Cihat Börklüce, ‘Big Data Misuse and European Contract Law’
ABSTRACT The dynamics of contractual interactions have been evolving in recent years, as big data introduces new dimensions to previously conventional contracts. This development intensifies the information asymmetry between the dominant and vulnerable parties, posing increasing challenges for consumers and the entirety of European contract law. This paper offers three main contributions to this discourse. […]
‘Who is the average consumer? CJEU in Compass Banca (C-646/22)’
On the 14th of November, the CJEU published its long-awaited decision on Compass Banca (Case C-646/22; we have previously discussed it here). In this case, the CJEU, for the first time, elaborated on who the ‘average consumer’ is, especially in light of the persistent critiques from behaviouralists, and further clarified the assessment of and the […]
Mondal and Ganguli, ‘Deceitful Trade Names in the Era of Social Media: An Exploration of Influencer Marketing and Consumer Deception’
ABSTRACT ‘An Exploration of Influencer Marketing and Consumer Deception’ delves into the evolving landscape of influencer marketing, where the power of social media has enabled influencers to play a significant role in consumer behaviour. The piece explores how influencers, often trusted for their authenticity and relatability, can sometimes engage in misleading practices by endorsing products […]
‘Consumer Contracts Have Many Problems, but “Readability” May Not Be One’
Yonathan A Arbel, ‘The Readability of Contracts: Big Data Analysis’, 21 Journal of Empirical Legal Studies (forthcoming, 2024), available at SSRN (January 1, 2023). Probably all law professors, even textualists, have experienced frustrations with overly rigid applications of supposed rules about language. For example, they’ve encountered editors who require that all contractions be spelled out […]
Haun and Robinson, ‘Do You Agree?: The Psychology and Legalities of Assent to Clickwrap Agreements’
ABSTRACT When first accessing a website or online service, users are confronted with terms of service and privacy policies. These terms and policies are adhesion contracts which the user must accept to use the website or service. Virtually all users simply click ‘I agree’ without reading the terms of these contracts. The law construes this […]
‘X Has a New Forum Selection Clause’
The company formerly known as Twitter (‘X’) has announced that it will adopt new Terms of Service (‘TOS’) effective November 15, 2024. Among other things, the new TOS includes a new forum selection clause. The clause in the old TOS required lawsuits against X to be brought in California. The clause in the new TOS […]
‘The digital vulnerable consumer: a concept with critical potential or entrenching logics of market efficiency?’
In recent years, the topic of consumer vulnerability has come to the fore in the context of the digitalisation of the economy insofar as it can be seen as a symptom of, and embodying the various asymmetries that characterise digital markets (see eg, BEUC, 2022). One of the many features of the digital economy is […]
Maria Rosaria Maugeri, ‘Consumer protection in the crypto financial market’
ABSTRACT The protection of consumers and users of payment tokens is the subject of a plurality of European disciplines. There is a need to understand whether and how these disciplines can be coordinated with each other. This article analyses the disciplines contained in the: (i) Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council […]
Tennant and Van Heerden, ‘Product Liability in an Age of Development Risks: Should South Africa Reconsider Adopting a Development Risk Defence?’
ABSTRACT To provide protection against harm caused by defective, unsafe products and to promote product safety, the law of product liability has developed as a specialized area of the law of delict (tort). The vexing question is, who should bear such liability? This contribution interrogates the notorious EU development risk defence, which exonerates manufacturers that […]