B-2-C Pre-dispute Arbitration Clauses, E-commerce Trust Construction and Jenga: “keeping Every Cog and Wheel”
B-2-C Pre-dispute Arbitration Clauses, E-commerce Trust Construction and Jenga: “keeping Every Cog and Wheel”
Author(s): Mohammed A. AslamSubject(s): ICT Information and Communications Technologies, EU-Legislation, Commercial Law
Published by: Masarykova univerzita nakladatelství
Keywords: Pre-dispute/mandatory arbitration clauses; online dispute resolution; ADR; ODR; e-commerce; consumer trust; system trust; institutional legitimacy; crowdsourced ODR; Amazon.com;
Summary/Abstract: In its pro-consumer stance the EU has reaffirmed its commitment to ban pre-dispute arbitration clauses in its new Proposals for a Directive on ADR, and a Regulation on a Common European Sales Law. This course of direction has begun despite the fact that cross border B-2-C e-commerce sales are below expectations. The EU does not need reminding building trust in e-commerce is essential. However, trust construction needs to be re-examined from the perspective of ODR if a genuine concern exists to build the right form of trust. This article adopts a multi-disciplinary approach to re-assess the legitimacy of pre-dispute arbitrations clauses in the e-B-2-C low-value/high-volume Clip-Wrap context. What is proposed is to view them from an interest-based system trust approach. Under this reframing they are regarded as strategic “imperative cogs”, which are essential in building system trust. These need to work with crowdsourced consumer-centric business models to produce sustainable system trust and predictability via perceived fairness.
Journal: Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology
- Issue Year: 7/2013
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 1-18
- Page Count: 18
- Language: English