An Assessment of the Consumer Review Freedom Act of 2015
7 Pages Posted: 5 Nov 2015 Last revised: 7 Dec 2015
Date Written: November 1, 2015
Abstract
In response to the growing importance of online consumer reviews, businesses have sought to regain control over their professional reputation -- in some cases by contractually restricting their customers from writing reviews about them. The Consumer Review Freedom Act of 2015 would ban businesses from pursuing such anti-consumer terms. This essay assesses the Consumer Review Freedom Act, including whether or not we need the law as well as some strengths and weaknesses of the statutory drafting.
Keywords: consumer reviews, online reviews, non-disparagement, gag contracts, anti-review clauses, statutory analysis
JEL Classification: l14, K12, K2
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation