Online Consumer Contracts: No One Reads, But Does Anyone Care?

12 Jerusalem Review of Legal Studies 105 (2015)

16 Pages Posted: 15 Apr 2015 Last revised: 6 Feb 2023

See all articles by Samuel Becher

Samuel Becher

Victoria University of Wellington

Tal Zarsky

University of Haifa - Faculty of Law

Date Written: 2015

Abstract

Electronic and virtual commerce is growing in size and scope. People are entering – without reading – into a greater number of contracts, which are becoming longer over time. Yet the volume, complexity and innovative nature of the electronic transactions render close inspection by courts an unattractive option. Regulators as well will have a difficult time keeping up with the novel challenges markets raise.

This essay is part of a symposium examining and celebrating the scholarship of Professor Florencia Marotta-Wurgler. Prof. Wurgler's important studies test – and at times undermine – some of the most basic assumptions of contract theory. The essay illuminates Prof. Wurgler's work by noting several insights related to the "law and technology" interface.

In Part I we set out with a preliminary look into Prof. Wurgler's methodology. Here we consider whether users' preferences and technological sophistication might have impacted the dataset used by Prof. Wurgler. In Part II we examine the possibility that alternative information flows educate users in various aspects of the standard form contract. We elaborate by considering the implications of such flows for Prof. Wurgler's findings and other aspects of her scholarship. We conclude by briefly reflecting on Prof. Wurgler's vision regarding the policy implications of her work.

Keywords: Standard form contracts, information privacy, emperical legal studies, EULA, B2B, B2C, click-wrap contracts

Suggested Citation

Becher, Shmuel I. and Zarsky, Tal, Online Consumer Contracts: No One Reads, But Does Anyone Care? (2015). 12 Jerusalem Review of Legal Studies 105 (2015), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2594390

Shmuel I. Becher

Victoria University of Wellington ( email )

P.O. Box 600
Wellington, 6140
New Zealand

HOME PAGE: http://www.victoria.ac.nz/sacl/about/staff/samuel-becher

Tal Zarsky (Contact Author)

University of Haifa - Faculty of Law ( email )

Mount Carmel
Haifa, 31905
Israel

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