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Daily Archives: April 16, 2019

The Consumer Protection Ecosystem: Law, Norms, and Technology

Bradley, Christopher G., The Consumer Protection Ecosystem: Law, Norms, and Technology (March 8, 2019). Denver Law Review, Vol. 97, 2019. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3349190 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3349190

“Consumer law provokes fierce policy debate on issues from identity theft to online privacy, from arbitration clauses and class action lawsuits to Americans’ accumulation of debt and the unsavory practices sometimes used to collect. Pervasive technology in every aspect of consumer transacting has opened up many new fronts in these battles. Scholars, policymakers, and advocates have responded in kind, devoting increased energy to this area of law, which affects every single one of us, every single day. Despite its prominence, however, confusion persists regarding what consumer protection really is or does. The realities of social and technological change have not been integrated into legal analyses of consumer transactions.

This Article constructs a novel and comprehensive model of the consumer protection ecosystem by contextualizing purely legal constraints amid the other realities of commercial relationships. Drawing on scholarship in the areas of technology, social change, and the law, the model lays out three basic types of constraints on the activities of participants in consumer commercial transactions: legal, technical, and social constraints. This model provides a basis for exploring how those constraints interact and shape behavior.

The model has significant ramifications for scholars, policymakers, and advocates. The model underscores why the area of consumer-facing commerce defies one-size-fits-all solutions; instead, it demands refined and layered consideration of consumers, merchants, and the commercial relationships they pursue, as well as the changes in the social and technological contexts of those relationships. This Article’s model provides a framework for that future research and debate.”

Sharp Rise in the Share of Americans Saying Jews Face Discrimination

“The public sees widespread discrimination against several racial, ethnic and religious groups in the U.S. And while most of these views are little changed over the last several years, the share of Americans saying Jews face discrimination in the U.S. has increased substantially since late 2016. Today, 64% of Americans say Jews face at least… Continue Reading

New on LLRX for March 2019

The 5 new articles and 5 new columns on LLRX for March 2019 US takes tentative steps toward opening up government data – At the beginning of this year, President Trump signed into law the Open, Public, Electronic and Necessary Government Data Act, requiring that nonsensitive government data be made available in machine-readable, open formats by… Continue Reading

NYT – How to Cover 2020: Assume Nothing and Beware of Twitter

The New York Times – “Journalists have no idea how the 2020 election will play out. And that’s a good thing. Some of the country’s top political journalists came together last week for a gathering convened by the strategist David Axelrod, to talk about how to cover the presidential race in a way that won’t… Continue Reading

AALL Releases Inaugural State of the Profession Report

“The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) today releases its AALL State of the Profession2019, a data-driven exploration of current legal information professionals’ contributions. It covers research platform expertise,contract and vendor negotiation, AI development and implementation, metadata management, legal writing and research instruction, competitive intelligence,customer and client relations,and leadership.The report provides quantitative insights on user… Continue Reading

‘Have Law Books, Computer, Simulations –Will Travel’: The Transnationalization of (some of) the Law Professoriate

Menkel-Meadow, Carrie J., ‘Have Law Books, Computer, Simulations –Will Travel’: The Transnationalization of (some of) the Law Professoriate (April 10, 2019). Chapter IN: The Globalization of Legal Education: A Critical Study (Bryant Garth, Anthea Roberts and Gregory Shaffer, eds.), Forthcoming; UC Irvine School of Law Research Paper No. 2019-20. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3369834 “This essay… Continue Reading

Notre Dame is a repository of European history – the treasures that were lost – and saved

Via Twitter /Bloomberg – Built in the 12th century, the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris houses numerous treasures and served as the setting of historical events. Photos, videos, prints and architectural drawings document the cathedral’s historical relics – with an unknown number having been lost during the fire April 15, 2019. See also: AP – Shock,… Continue Reading

Leaked docs expose how Facebook management leveraged user data for partners – against rivals

NBC News – “Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg oversaw plans to consolidate the social network’s power and control competitors by treating its users’ data as a bargaining chip, while publicly proclaiming to be protecting that data, according to about 4,000 pages of leaked company documents largely spanning 2011 to 2015 and obtained by NBC News. The… Continue Reading

How Grifters Gamed Amazon to Sell the ‘Mueller Report’ Already

The Daily Beast: “Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s long-awaited report on the Trump campaign will be released Thursday, the Justice Department announced Monday. Like all public reports, the document will be free to read. That hasn’t stopped people from trying to sell Mueller report books on Amazon for months. Amazon’s book listings are an SEO cesspool… Continue Reading