Online marketplaces have transformed how we shop, travel, and interact with the world. Yet, their unique innovations also present a panoply of challenges for communities and states. Surprisingly, federal laws are chief among those challenges despite the fact that online marketplaces facilitate...

A deflated air mattress rests in the corner of Airbnb's world headquarters. It symbolizes how Airbnb allows regular, local people to earn extra income by renting out space in their homes. Yet, this symbolism fails to represent what the company has become—a unicorn receiving much of its revenue...

Throughout history, disruptive technologies have transformed industry and signaled the destruction or creation of regulatory structures. When crafting regulations, governments often utilize Regulation 1.0 approaches, characterized by top-down design standards that dictate exactly how the...

Since 2000, the demand for agricultural commodities has increasingly outstripped supply, leading to high food prices and chronic hunger in low-income countries. The number of undernourished people in the world is currently estimated at 925 million, and the future does not look any brighter....

One of the chief anticompetitive effects of modern business lies in antitrust's blind spot. Platform-based companies (“platforms”) have innovated a business model whereby they offer consumers “free" and low-priced services in exchange for their personal information. With this data,...

On April 5, 2012, President Barack Obama signed into law the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, dramatically changing the landscape for many companies raising capital. One of the most interesting sections of the Act is Title III, the CROWDFUND Act, which enables entrepreneurs and small...

The concept of "baby steps" is well known among psychologists and movie buffs alike. In the classic movie "What About Bob," Dr. Leo Marvin (played by Richard Dreyfuss) gives to Bob (Bill Murray), a highly dependent and worried individual, a copy of his book: Baby Steps. Dr. Marvin explains: "It...

Purpose -- The purpose of this chapter is to expose the limitations of the equity-based crowdfunding provisions of the 2012 JOBS Act. These provisions have received much attention because they have the potential to open funding opportunities to countless underfunded entrepreneurs and small...