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Full-Text Articles in Law

Online Disinhibited Contracts, Wayne R. Barnes Feb 2024

Online Disinhibited Contracts, Wayne R. Barnes

Pepperdine Law Review

There have been at least two dominant forces at work in the realm of consumer contracting over the past several decades. One has been the rise and domination of the standard form contract (whereby merchants contract with consumers via the use of standardized, boilerplate terms and conditions that consumers do not read or understand). The second force has been the rise of e-commerce and the purchase of goods and services via websites and other online platforms, and the use of “wrap” formation methodology (whereby merchants obtain consumer assent to the online terms and conditions via the consumer’s informal click, scroll, …


The Angel Wears Prada, The Devil Buys It On The Realreal: Expanding Trademark Rights Beyond The First Sale Doctrine, Junajoy Vinoya Frianeza Jan 2024

The Angel Wears Prada, The Devil Buys It On The Realreal: Expanding Trademark Rights Beyond The First Sale Doctrine, Junajoy Vinoya Frianeza

Pepperdine Law Review

Luxury brands derive their goodwill from the high-class exclusivity and first-rate quality signified in their trademarks. The Trademark Act of 1946, commonly known as the Lanham Act, grants trademark holders the right to control use of their mark. However, under common law, the first sale doctrine restricts trademark protection after holders authorize the initial sale of their trademarked product. Such limitation particularly jeopardizes the luxury industry as trademark holders ultimately bear the loss of goodwill when counterfeit luxury goods enter the market due to the negligence of resellers. This Comment illustrates how blockchain authentication offers all luxury industry participants—the brands, …


Hair On Fire: Why Companies Are Less Likely To Feel The Burn Under The Doj’S Newest Change To Antitrust Enforcement, Caroline M. Whitener Jun 2022

Hair On Fire: Why Companies Are Less Likely To Feel The Burn Under The Doj’S Newest Change To Antitrust Enforcement, Caroline M. Whitener

Pepperdine Law Review

In July 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division announced that in an effort to help companies avoid “‘hair on fire’ experiences,” Division prosecutors are now, despite previous hesitancy, encouraged to offer prosecution alternatives in the form of deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) and non-prosecution agreements (NPAs) to corporate antitrust violators. Alternative prosecution agreements, such as DPAs and NPAs, are contracts between the government and corporate wrongdoers that allow companies to delay or entirely avoid prosecution, provided the company adheres to the contract terms. Additionally, as a part of the policy change, DOJ antitrust prosecutors must evaluate a corporation’s preexisting …


The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same: Online Platforms And Consumer Equality, Anne-Marie Hakstian, Jerome D. Williams, Sam Taddeo Feb 2021

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same: Online Platforms And Consumer Equality, Anne-Marie Hakstian, Jerome D. Williams, Sam Taddeo

Pepperdine Law Review

Title II of the Civil Rights Act, along with its counterpart state laws, have protected the rights of racial minorities in the United States for decades. Section 1981 has guaranteed contract rights for all people, regardless of race, since 1868. But times are changing. Racial discrimination claims against 21st century technology companies face challenges when brought under existing laws. Even the relatively current Communications Decency Act (CDA) is unhelpful to consumers attempting to seek redress from online platforms. In this article, we analyze the only cases of consumer discrimination brought against providers of the sharing economy and highlight some of …


Modern Privacy Advocacy: An Approach At War With Privacy Itself?, Justin "Gus" Hurwitz, Jamil N. Jaffer Jun 2020

Modern Privacy Advocacy: An Approach At War With Privacy Itself?, Justin "Gus" Hurwitz, Jamil N. Jaffer

Pepperdine Law Review

This Article argues that the modern concept of privacy itself, particularly as framed by some of its most ardent advocates today, is fundamentally incoherent. The Article highlights that many common arguments made in support of privacy, while initially seeming to protect this critical value, nonetheless undermine it in the long run. Using both recent and older examples of applying classic privacy advocacy positions to key technological innovations, the authors demonstrate how these positions, while seemingly privacy-enhancing at the time, actually resulted in outcomes that were less beneficial for consumers and citizens, including from a purely privacy-focused perspective. As a result, …


Consumer Welfare & The Rule Of Law: The Case Against The New Populist Antitrust Movement, Elyse Dorsey, Geoffrey A. Manne, Jan M. Rybnicek, Kristian Stout, Joshua D. Wright Jun 2020

Consumer Welfare & The Rule Of Law: The Case Against The New Populist Antitrust Movement, Elyse Dorsey, Geoffrey A. Manne, Jan M. Rybnicek, Kristian Stout, Joshua D. Wright

Pepperdine Law Review

Populist antitrust notions suddenly are fashionable again. At their core is the view that antitrust law is responsible for a myriad of purported socio-political problems plaguing society today, including but not limited to rising income inequality, declining wages, and increasing economic and political concentration. Seizing on Americans’ fears about changes to the modern US economy, proponents of populist antitrust policies assert the need to fundamentally reshape how we apply our nation’s competition laws in order to implement a variety of prescriptions necessary to remedy these perceived social ills. The proposals are varied and expansive but have the unifying theme of …


Placebo Marks, Jake Linford Jan 2020

Placebo Marks, Jake Linford

Pepperdine Law Review

Scholars often complain that sellers use trademarks to manipulate consumer perception. This manipulation ostensibly harms consumers by limiting their ability to make informed choices. For example, holding other things constant, consumers spend more money on goods with a high-performance reputation. Critics characterize that result as wasteful, if not anticompetitive. But recent marketing research shows that trademarks with a high-performance reputation may sometimes influence perception to the benefit of the consumer. A trademark with a high-performance reputation can deliver a performance-enhancing placebo effect. Research subjects perform better at physical and mental tasks when they prepare or play with a product bearing …


The [Un]Fair Debt Collection Practices Act: A Critique Of Henson V. Santander, Monica Paladini Jun 2019

The [Un]Fair Debt Collection Practices Act: A Critique Of Henson V. Santander, Monica Paladini

Pepperdine Law Review

Congress was clear about its purposes and motivations behind enacting the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act of 1977. Namely, it set out to protect consumers from abusive debt collectors and to protect ethical debt collectors from being competitively disadvantaged by those who employ abusive tactics. Although Congress gave much time and effort to crafting the definition of “debt collectors” at the time of the Act’s passage, changes in the debt collection industry over the last four decades have greatly impacted the scope and reach of the FDCPA. Specifically, the advent and rise of debt purchasing have introduced an entirely new …


Full Disclosure Of Consumer Savings Information , Vance Hartke May 2013

Full Disclosure Of Consumer Savings Information , Vance Hartke

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Ftc Regulation Of Endorsements In Advertising: In The Consumer's Behalf?, Whitney F. Washburn Feb 2013

Ftc Regulation Of Endorsements In Advertising: In The Consumer's Behalf?, Whitney F. Washburn

Pepperdine Law Review

The Federal Trade Commission, as recently as 1980, has issued Guides designed to prevent deception of consumers due to misleading product endorsement advertising by celebrities and others. The new Guides indicate that the FTC intends to continue its recent trend offending advertisers and even endorsers liable for deceptive endorsement practices. However, a critical analysis of the Guides, in light of marketplace realities and consumer needs, raises serious question as to whether they are likely to promote accurate endorsement advertising. This comment will explore pre-1980 regulations and trace the progression of controls through the advent of the FTC Guides. The Guides …


Consumer Debt And Usury: A New Rationale For Usury , Robin A. Morris Jan 2013

Consumer Debt And Usury: A New Rationale For Usury , Robin A. Morris

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Consumerism And Land Sales , Leonard Levin Jan 2013

Consumerism And Land Sales , Leonard Levin

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


It Hertz To Be Number One: The Collision Damage Waiver Is Being Attacked On Multiple Fronts , Michael G. Dawson Jan 2013

It Hertz To Be Number One: The Collision Damage Waiver Is Being Attacked On Multiple Fronts , Michael G. Dawson

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Rethinking Principals Of Comparative Fault In Light Of California's Proposition 51, James A. Gash Nov 2012

Rethinking Principals Of Comparative Fault In Light Of California's Proposition 51, James A. Gash

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Big Business Beware: Punitive Damages Do Not Violate Fourteenth Amendment According To Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Co. V. Haslip, Christopher V. Carlyle Nov 2012

Big Business Beware: Punitive Damages Do Not Violate Fourteenth Amendment According To Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Co. V. Haslip, Christopher V. Carlyle

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Vaccines And The Law, Michael Sanzo Ph.D. Nov 2012

Vaccines And The Law, Michael Sanzo Ph.D.

Pepperdine Law Review

The last twenty years have seen a sea-change in the area of proving causation in the toxic tort setting, with courts demanding stronger, scientifically tested evidence. At the same time, a closely related debate has been raging about separating cause from coincidence under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act compensation program for injuries that might have been the result of vaccinations. The Vaccine Act created a no-fault compensation fund financed by a tax on childhood vaccines to address harms resulting from those vaccines. Unfortunately, Congress gave little direction with regard to the level of causal certainty that would be required …


An Analysis Of Warranty Claims Instituted By Non-Privity Plaintiffs In Jurisdictions That Have Adopted Uniform Commercial Code Section 2-318 (Alternative A), William L. Stallworth Nov 2012

An Analysis Of Warranty Claims Instituted By Non-Privity Plaintiffs In Jurisdictions That Have Adopted Uniform Commercial Code Section 2-318 (Alternative A), William L. Stallworth

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


"You May Have Already Won. . .": Telemarketing Fraud And The Need For A Federal Legislative Solution , Patrick E. Michela Nov 2012

"You May Have Already Won. . .": Telemarketing Fraud And The Need For A Federal Legislative Solution , Patrick E. Michela

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Smoking Out Big Tobacco: Some Lessons About Academic Freedom, The World Wide Web, Media Conglomeration, And Public Service Pedagogy From The Battle Over The Brown & Williamson Documents, Clay Calvert Oct 2012

Smoking Out Big Tobacco: Some Lessons About Academic Freedom, The World Wide Web, Media Conglomeration, And Public Service Pedagogy From The Battle Over The Brown & Williamson Documents, Clay Calvert

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Selling Structured Settlements: The Uncertain Effect Of Anti-Assignment Clauses , Gregory Scott Crespi Oct 2012

Selling Structured Settlements: The Uncertain Effect Of Anti-Assignment Clauses , Gregory Scott Crespi

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Access To Consumer Remedies In The Squeaky Wheel System , Amy J. Schmitz Sep 2012

Access To Consumer Remedies In The Squeaky Wheel System , Amy J. Schmitz

Pepperdine Law Review

This article explores the “Squeaky Wheel System” (“SWS”) in business-to-consumer (“B2C”) contexts, referring to merchants’ reservation of purchase remedies and other contract benefits for only the relatively few “squeaky wheel” consumers who have the requisite information and resources to persistently seek assistance. The article uncovers how this system fosters contractual discrimination and hinders consumers’ awareness and access with respect to contract remedies. It also adds empirical insights from my recent e-survey, and offers suggestions for using the internet to empower consumers of all economic and status levels with efficient and accessible means for learning about their purchase rights and asserting …


Determining The Proper Pleading Standard Under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act Of 1995 After In Re Silicon Graphics , Erin Brady Jul 2012

Determining The Proper Pleading Standard Under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act Of 1995 After In Re Silicon Graphics , Erin Brady

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


The Class Action (Un)Fairness Act Of 2005: Could It Spell The End Of The Multi-State Consumer Class Action?, Michael Isaac Miller Feb 2012

The Class Action (Un)Fairness Act Of 2005: Could It Spell The End Of The Multi-State Consumer Class Action?, Michael Isaac Miller

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.