Category Archives: Consumer Law Scholarship

Myriam Gilles article calls for private claim to enforce FTC Act

Myriam E. Gilles of Cardozo has written The Private Attorney General in a Time of Hyper-Polarized Politics, 65 Ariz. L. Rev. 337 (2023). Here’s the abstract: With the enactment of the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTC Act”) in 1914 and the Wheeler–Lea Act in 1938, Congress sought to establish a brawny federal consumer protection regime to […]

Mark Budnitz article: New Developments in Payment Systems and Services Affecting Low-Income Consumers

Mark E. Budnitz of Georgia State has written New Developments in Payment Systems and Services Affecting Low-Income Consumers: Challenges and Opportunities, Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law and Policy (2023). Here’s the abstract: The consumer financial services industry has taken advantage of digital technology to transform the way it provides services to consumers using payment systems. After […]

Benjamin Cavataro paper argues that guns should be regulated by the CPSC

Benjamin L. Cavataro of Villanova has written Regulating Guns as Products, forthcoming in 92 George Washington Law Review (2024). Here’s the abstract: Toy guns are subject to federal product safety regulation. Real guns are not. If a defect in an air rifle causes it to discharge without warning, the manufacturer would be required to promptly […]

What to do about privacy policies? Chris Bradley has an answer

Christopher G. Bradley of Kentucky has written Privacy Policy Indeterminacy. Here’s the abstract: Despite being subjected to decades of sharp criticism, privacy policies published by companies remain a linchpin of privacy regulation. Representations in these policies provide the main measure against which consumer privacy can be judged. Policies are rarely read by consumers and are […]

David Horton article: Forced Robot Arbitration

David Horton of California, Davis has written Forced Robot Arbitration, forthcoming in 109 Cornell Law Review (2023). Here’s the abstract: Recently, advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have sparked interest in a topic that sounds like science fiction: robot judges. Researchers have harnessed AI to build programs that can predict the outcome of legal disputes. Some […]

Dickinson Article: Privately Policing Dark Patterns

Gregory M. Dickinson of St. Thomas has written Privately Policing Dark Patterns, 57 Ga. L. Rev. (2023 Forthcoming). Here is the abstract: Lawmakers around the country are crafting new laws to target “dark patterns”—user interface designs that trick or coerce users into enabling cell phone location tracking, sharing browsing data, initiating automatic billing, or making […]

Regulatory Review: “Reviewing the Regulation of Fake Reviews”

The Regulatory Review blog reports that “With 77 percent of online shoppers using reviews to inform their purchase decisions, customer reviews play a crucial role in shaping international commerce. Fake reviews, which include manufactured and deceptive reviews, constitute about 4 percent of all reviews online. This 4 percent translates to a cost to consumers of […]

Hoffman article proposes that low-stakes form contracts should be unenforceable

David A. Hoffman of Penn has written Defeating the Empire of Forms, forthcoming in the Virginia Law Review. Here’s the abstract: For generations, contract scholars have waged a faint-hearted campaign against form contracts. It’s widely believed that adhesive forms are unread and chock full of terms that courts will not, or should not, enforce. Most think […]

Proposals for regulating ChatGPT and other generative AI

“While ChatGPT and generative AI’s powerful potential has sparked excitement, some experts worry that ChatGPT—which sometimes produces inaccurate responses—may spread misinformation. In addition, other experts have expressed concern that the tool may replace workers.” At The Regulatory Review, scholars compile scholarship discussing the potential harms of ChatGPT and evaluating ways to regulate generative AI. The […]