Legislating for Decentralized Marketplaces

Abstract

Can San Francisco require Airbnb to ensure that its hosts are registered with the city? Can New York mandate that Uber is liable if its drivers discriminate on the basis of race? Can Congress legislate to ensure that workers who accept gigs through Handy are not penalized as a result of the company's online rating system? New online platforms raise these and similar questions about the proper role of regulation for the new marketplaces that increasingly broker relationships between consumers and service providers.

Meanwhile, in a series of claims, platform operators have argued not only that they should not be found liable under existing statutes and doctrines, but also that legislators may not write new legislation to establish such liability. In this working paper, we assess these claims — concluding that certain existing requirements apply and such that such rules are appropriate, and also calling into question platforms’ claims of immunity from proposed new legislation.

Keywords: sharing economy, new economy, gig economy, 1099 economy, legislation, regulation