Believing that the economy and the government operate in non-overlapping spheres is a naïve illusion - and it's actually more simplistic and dangerous than the most naïve high-school communism.
Property rights provide a foundation for free-market economics. Property rights define the legal ownership of resources and how they can be used. Who determines ownership and enforces property rights? It is the government, of course.
Contracts provide another foundation for markets. A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more mutually agreeing parties.
Practically every economic transaction involves an explicit or implicit contract. Who, however, enforces contracts when obligations are not met? It is the government, of course, so the government should have a say in deciding which contracts are enforceable.
Free-market advocates argue that freedom to contract and to conduct business without government involvement contributes to economic efficiency. It is time, I believe, to examine this argument in the context of technology markets. Whenever we use a computing system, we must consent to a click-through license, which is a contract between the user and the provider. Do these licenses (which would take the average user 76 working days per year to read in their entirety) contribute to the efficiency of the market? If no one reads the terms and conditions, how can they continue to be the legal backbone of the Internet?
It is time to nullify, legislatively, all click-through agreements. If I can walk into a car dealership with a cashier's check and walk out with a new car, having only to sign the title-transfer forms, it is not clear why I must sign a 15,000-word agreement to get a new laptop or create a Google account. We probably need new laws to govern our intensely online life, but these laws should be legislated in a democratic way rather than by click-through licenses written by tech companies.
https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2023/9/275696-to-regulate-tech-nullify-click-through-contracts/fulltext
Fabio Manganiello
npub1v7…ukv0u
2023-09-04 08:27:57 UTC
Author Public Key
npub1v78mmuz20p6qd6nve30axhqu74avwn4f6z4grhug7755rat7wh3syukv0uPublished at
2023-09-04 08:27:57 UTCEvent JSON
{
"id": "16b23607fcb4ca96d98ed6cd3c0eee24d03fa3b208b37801ca4c390136be55b9",
"pubkey": "678fbdf04a787406ea6ccc5fd35c1cf57ac74ea9d0aa81df88f7a941f57e75e3",
"created_at": 1693816077,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"proxy",
"https://social.platypush.tech/users/blacklight/statuses/111005930439723661",
"activitypub"
]
],
"content": "Believing that the economy and the government operate in non-overlapping spheres is a naïve illusion - and it's actually more simplistic and dangerous than the most naïve high-school communism.\n\nProperty rights provide a foundation for free-market economics. Property rights define the legal ownership of resources and how they can be used. Who determines ownership and enforces property rights? It is the government, of course.\n\nContracts provide another foundation for markets. A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more mutually agreeing parties.\n\nPractically every economic transaction involves an explicit or implicit contract. Who, however, enforces contracts when obligations are not met? It is the government, of course, so the government should have a say in deciding which contracts are enforceable.\n\nFree-market advocates argue that freedom to contract and to conduct business without government involvement contributes to economic efficiency. It is time, I believe, to examine this argument in the context of technology markets. Whenever we use a computing system, we must consent to a click-through license, which is a contract between the user and the provider. Do these licenses (which would take the average user 76 working days per year to read in their entirety) contribute to the efficiency of the market? If no one reads the terms and conditions, how can they continue to be the legal backbone of the Internet?\n\nIt is time to nullify, legislatively, all click-through agreements. If I can walk into a car dealership with a cashier's check and walk out with a new car, having only to sign the title-transfer forms, it is not clear why I must sign a 15,000-word agreement to get a new laptop or create a Google account. We probably need new laws to govern our intensely online life, but these laws should be legislated in a democratic way rather than by click-through licenses written by tech companies.\n https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2023/9/275696-to-regulate-tech-nullify-click-through-contracts/fulltext",
"sig": "489181bdd2db2b11215d72d584b7f39661c96df2d97e4d776eea05c73b86d5811a0f104d057d68b7a0be1ca197de9ac22b6a12c97c1d0d437725db7c6043a22b"
}