Law Commons^™

Private Lawmaking In Commercial Cyberspace, Eliza Mik

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

No discussion of “Law and Technology” would be complete without at least one essay centred on the Internet. While the Internet no longer captures our imagination with the same force as it did 20 years ago, we cannot assume that it no longer creates (or perpetuates?) multiple legal problems. When we talk about the Internet we must, however, refrain from the popular “Internet metanarrative” that often leads to superficial arguments and unhelpful generalisations.1 We must always remain aware of the multiplicity of the Internet’s technical applications and the wide range of legal contexts in which the term gains significance. Discussing …

The Erosion Of Autonomy In Online Consumer Transactions, Eliza Mik

Eliza Mik

Online businesses influence consumer behaviour by means of a wide range of technologies that determine what information is displayed as well as how and when it is displayed. This creates an unprecedented power imbalance between the transacting parties, raising questions not only about the permissible levels of procedural exploitation in contract law, together with the adequacy of existing consumer protections but also about the impact of technology on consumer autonomy. There is, however, no single technology that threatens the latter. It is the combined, mutually-enforcing effect of multiple technologies that influence consumer choices at different stages in the transacting process, …

The Erosion Of Autonomy In Online Consumer Transactions, Eliza Mik

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Online businesses influence consumer behaviour by means of a wide range of technologies that determine what information is displayed as well as how and when it is displayed. This creates an unprecedented power imbalance between the transacting parties, raising questions not only about the permissible levels of procedural exploitation in contract law, together with the adequacy of existing consumer protections but also about the impact of technology on consumer autonomy. There is, however, no single technology that threatens the latter. It is the combined, mutually-enforcing effect of multiple technologies that influence consumer choices at different stages in the transacting process, …

Property Or Currency? The Tax Dilemma Behind Bitcoin, Scott A. Wiseman

Utah Law Review

At Bitcoin’s peak in November 2013, there were 93,000 global transactions made in a single day. These users purchased everyday items such as personal services, food, and real estate. This alone suggests that Bitcoin is not primarily used as a long-term investment tool, but rather is used as a currency and a vehicle for global transactions. Congress and the IRS should regulate it accordingly. Representative Stockman’s Virtual Currency Reform Act offered an attempt to negate the IRS decision and officially classify Bitcoin and other virtual currencies as currency instead of property. A tax reclassification would alleviate typical users’ many inconveniences …

From Promise To Form: How Contracting Online Changes Consumers, David A. Hoffman

All Faculty Scholarship

I hypothesize that different experiences with online contracting have led some consumers to see contracts—both online and offline—in distinctive ways. Experimenting on a large, nationally representative sample, this paper provides evidence of age-based and experience-based differences in views of consumer contract formation and breach. I show that younger subjects who have entered into more online contracts are likelier than older ones to think that contracts can be formed online, that digital contracts are legitimate while oral contracts are not, and that contract law is unforgiving of breach.

I argue that such individual differences in views of contract formation and enforceability …