Is Contract Law Suitable for the Digital Economy?

A 2,000 word article which examines whether contract law is suitable for the digital economy and whether change are needed to protect and inform consumers.

• Digital economy with contract law – Safe or no？

The technology exists everywhere in everyone daily life. As the world goes increasingly; online, digital technology is widely used and brings about fundamental changes in the overall economic environment and economic activities. The value of the digital economy is growing in millions of network nodes; it indicates that the benefits generated by the network will increase exponentially as the number of network users’ increase. 

The protection of e-ecommerce
consumer rights and interests has encountered new difficulties. This is difficult
to obtain effective relief after the legitimate rights and interests of online
consumers are damage is also frequently reported. In the process of continuous
innovation of e-commerce model, how comprehensively and effectively to protect
the legitimate rights and interests of online consumers still needs in-depth
study.

• Principles of
  contract law in depth

Primarily, it is necessary
to set up contract law is to ensure the parties to a contract to each other,
agree and obligate to keep their promises. By creating a legally binding
relation frequently, refer to four key elements that need to be present; offer
acceptance, consideration and intention. 

Not all the e-consumer
provide with logical eyes to understand overall standing law of contract
significantly in the running of society. The Consumer Contracts (Information,
Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 have applied the contract
between business premises and consumers with types of rule for business
providing digital content. ‘Negotiated and agreed by one or more organized
means of distance communication. (Business companion, 2018). Whilst I believe
this terms and conditions made practical sense in the circumstances to protect
consumers’ right, authors such as Ashutosh Kumar et al point out protection is
not possible without rigid legal system and it is better if the consumers are
pay awareness of their rights and what it is against. It is the format online
consumers to participate in marketing research to understand these rights and
obligations, as well as full transparency of marketing research professional
service providers.

N. Helberger (2012)
describes that Digital is an analogue and tangible world, unlike to other areas
of law; law relates with digital media aspects was late to respond to the
challenges from digital market. 

However, in some case contract
law must written invalid. The terms of the offer must commit to all parties
concerned and reach a consensus, legal contractual capacities. Form
e-commercial normally use in writing and signed by the seller (owner) or estate
agent acting. The entire potential purchase document can inform consumers’
acceptance.

A way though representations v Terms

None all things provide of
the negotiating a contract is a term and legally binding. The consumer can sued
up for the civil offence if provider representations are promises turns out to
false which do not form part of a contact. During seller may want to leave a
good impression thus misrepresentation and breach of contract. Terms and
conditions usually are written in to contract as clarity. In addition, if want
to keep the verbal promises into the contract agreement, but it does difficult
to prove.

Even though the legal principles have an offer ‘contract law provides the legal framework for economic transactions in the internal market (Article 114 TFEU) However, that does not apply to contracts traders to trade goods or services from the consumer. In terms of the monetary value of consideration, Wiki website (2018) indicates that courts do not take in adequacy consideration between two parties was monetarily fairly. If a person has signed an employee contract binding and found low salary with hard working, which wants to, sought to get rid of his contract. In this case, contact is binding, again, the law usually do not concern with the value and benefit of consideration even if the compensation was incredibly low.

It is the responsibility
contracts provide enough information for consumers. Nevertheless, if you think
that any of standards terms in consumer contract are unfair to your personal
should contact Consumer Direct. Please call the Consumer Direct advice service
on 08454 04 05 06 or visit the Consumer Direct website www.consumerdirect.gov.uk. (Office of fair trading, 2008)

If there is, a logical way to protect consumer benefit is great, but some of the business does not portent full of contact information and have to agree with the online commitment for un-wealthy law consumers. Especially some of E-commercial taking advantages of consumers particularly in situations where the consumer does not understand the contract.

• An example of digital economy

Facebook is a well-known
digital company and could not even guarantee consumer safety thus to indicated
into conditions law. It has told we have to keep it safe and please to use, we
have to secure the registration and account, we have to protect other people’s
rights etc. Since Facebook is a device link, a lot of personal privacy this is
not 100% surely protect digital user safety. Before we post everything out need
a depth consideration because Facebook got the permit to take the image and
information to browse and share. Even we can complain about it if we think it
is unfair, but the result seems less and less because we already ‘agree’ the
terms and conditions.

From recently, a profitable
digital company has been struggled with ‘Facebook is facing investigations on multiple
fronts after revelations that data on 50m users by an analytics firm (Financial
Times, 2018).’ Facebook struggled with recent scandal has made the general
news.

The patent will allow
Facebook to analyses the user’s family members based on information uploaded by
users to their websites and Instagram, including pots, status, friends, photos
and more.

At somehow point, it creates
a protection for young group consumers indicate from (Wiki, 2017) ‘age-verification
regulator to publish guidelines. The Digital economy act 2017 raised concerns
about the privacy implications of collecting user data within, especially class
of young teenager. Whether who under 13 are broke in the act when they sign a
contract at any social media such as Instagram, WhatsApp, snapchat and YouTube
will get the same treatment.

Until now, consumer
protection still has decentralized and fragmentary legislation, which has led
to a lack of basic consumer rights, and the lack of voice of consumers and the
constant development of consumers are largely unregulated.

There are protection for
consumers also information to inform consumers. The Facebook users have to
follow the terms, conditions once been agreed the statement of rights, and
responsibilities have provided.

The Disadvantage of digital economic

Internet consumers
“security rights”: difficult to maintain security view of the
increase in the payment method of online transactions and the complete flow of
logistics information. The security rights of online consumers are mainly
reflected in the two aspects of payment security and personal information
security.

Online consumers “fair trading rights”: difficult to be fair

In the e-commerce B2C
model, consumers must first fill in the personal information on the operator
platform website, obtain the network identity after completing the
registration, and then conduct the transaction according to the relevant format
contract terms provided by the operator. The network consumer can only choose
to refuse or agree that you cannot negotiate with the operator regarding the
terms of the transaction.

In related network platform
format of the contract, terms are usually lengthy, narrow interface, the
smaller the number of words, not all-online consumers’ professional background,
often without the patience to look, in particular, to reduce or waive the terms
of the trap operator responsibility, different. To a limited extent or
deprivation of the exercise of the rights of online consumers.

Expanding the legitimate rights and interests of online consumers

The more comprehensive the
legal norm system of online transactions, the more the legitimate rights and
interests of online consumers are confirmed, the less the network operators can
make unfair regulations for consumers through format contracts and trap
clauses, and even use technical means to force transactions. In the current
law, consumers have no right to return because of the right to extend the
consumer’s right to know and choose, regulate fraudulent transactions, and
guarantee fair transactions, but some network operators still restrict the
rights of online consumers. Internet consumers do their best to pay attention
to the usual requirements, but still, do not know the true situation of goods
and services. If the right to return is exercise within a certain period after
using the goods and receiving services, it does not increase the operating cost
or damage other Consumers’ interests, consumers’ demand for return-free returns
should be supported. The normalization and popularization of online
transactions will continue to expand the interests of consumers. The intensity
and extent of social protection of consumers will also increase. It is
necessary to rationally adjust the distribution pattern of interests of network
operators and consumers, and expand online consumers. Legitimate rights and
interests, improve the legal norm system and promote the model innovation of
e-commerce and the practice of benign trading rules

Moreover, terms and
conditions may affect users’ privacy. In practice, they will find it often
difficult to identify privacy issues or concrete threats to their privacy.  More generally, in order to acknowledge
problems with unfair terms in consumer contracts and possible conflicts with
reasonable interests protected elsewhere (e.g., in copyright law, data
protection law, or media law), a certain level of legal expertise is required
that many if not most consumers lack.

Security concerns mentioned
by consumers include email scams, spam, identity theft, viruses, loss of
information, and the security of online possessions and communication, for
example, in the context of social networks or email (Europe Economics 2011b,
pp. 59–60, 105). The recent statistics show that 9% of digital consumers had
experienced security problems by Europe Economies (the figures might be
higher). More aggressively, consumers are illegal under Article 13(1) and (3)
of the Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications. It is obviously
conducting an unfair commercial practice. There are have no many solutions we
can do; consumers must cooperate such as to install the latest updates, to
qualify for system protection. However, this unclear that process what requires
to do it just a bug and spend lots of time.

Digital economic law is not just a regulatory law; this is a development law, a future law and a global law. It is a law that focuses on and protects consumer development, looks to the future and we recommend improving relevant laws. Others problems we identified are such as not reserved to digital consumers, such as the rule of consumer information obligations and the problem of underage consumers. Ultimately, consumer protection law is the long-awaited improvement of the legal standing of consumers. Next innovation in the digital economy is a real contribution to the world and a true responsibility for the word. If this follows the characteristics of the digital economy contributing to a better balance between the rights of digital consumers and digital economy companies.

Sources

• https://www.businesscompanion.info/en/quick-guides/distance-sales/consumer-contracts-distance-sales
• https://www.ft.com/content/257d4598-2cb9-11e8-a34a-7e7563b0b0f4
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Economy_Act_2017
• https://www.businesscompanion.info/en/quick-guides/good-practice/consumer-protection-from-unfair-trading
• https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284442/oft1008.pdf
• https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284426/oft311.pdf
• https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.mmu.ac.uk/docview/1550172203?OpenUrlRefId=info:xri/sid:summon&accountid=12507
• https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.mmu.ac.uk/article/10.1007%2Fs10603-012-9201-1