Consumer Protection in the ‘Information Economy’

Prof. Jane Winn, Charles I Stone Professor of Law, University of Washington, Seattle, USA

Friday 7 March 2008

12.30-1.30pm, including time for questions and discussion

(NB: this will be followed by an invitation-based roundtable,
see: http://www.cyberlawcentre.org/2008/talks/03_winn_roundtable/
and contact Marni Swtizer at mswitzer [at] choice.com.au to request an invitation.)

Theatre G23, ground floor
Faculty of Law building
UNSW lower campus (near Roundhouse), Kensington, Sydney
Map: http://www.unsw.edu.au/maps/kensington.pdf

Abstract:

Prof Winn will consider the evidence that a new consumer protection movement targeting "information economy" issues is now emerging, and contrast that with some features of major consumer protection movements in the past. This new movement faces numerous challenges including increased scepticism about the effectiveness of legislation in many areas and concern about unintended consequences of government intervention in markets. Examples of important information economy issues facing consumers (and consumer advocates) will be considered, including: changes in contract and commercial law (e.g., unfair contract terms, or the enforcement of one-sided shrinkwrap, clickwrap or browsewrap licenses); network effects & competition (e.g., EU action against Microsoft; vendor unhappiness with eBay price increases); technical standards & interoperability (e.g., Blu Ray v. HD DVD, or lack of widely adopted strong authentication); Social Commerce (e.g., social networking, open source, wikipedia); information privacy & security (e.g., identity theft); and IPR/DRM (e.g, the French copyright law that might require Apple to stop using proprietary formats for iTunes). Using these examples, Prof Winn will give some suggestions about possible future directions in consumer protection law reform efforts.

Professor Winn is the Charles I Stone Professor of Law and Director of the Shidler Center for Law, Commerce & Technology at the University of Washington, Seattle. She is a leading international authority on electronic commerce law and technological and governance issues surrounding information security. Her current research interests include electronic commerce law developments in the United States, the European Union, and China. She is co-author of Law of Electronic Commerce and editor of Consumer Protection in the Age of the ‘Information Economy”. In 2007 she taught Cybersecurity Law and Electronic Commerce Law as part of the Masters of Law course at the University of Melbourne Law School.

Entry is free, no need to book. If you are coming from off campus please RSVP to feedback [at] cyberlawcentre.org.