Online dispute resolution systems can be effective in a way that courts, mostly, cannot, because they operate on much smaller costs. When connected to self-enforcement mechanisms, ODR systems could create a global law without a state, a whole new, independent and transnational legal order: the...

In cyberspace, parties meet that would often not have met in the offline world, because they physically live in far-away countries or on different continents. Outside cyberspace, ordinary consumers do usually not enter international agreements. In cyberspace, they engage in small or medium...

The article explains reasons why governmental regulation of online dispute resolution (ODR) would be so beneficial. Essentially, in order to maximize the benefits of the ODR model, the author believes that the government can and should regulate the practice. This article is different from most...

Specific to our epoch is a general acceleration of time in society, a trend towards the "ever urgent", which is due among many other factors to the development of electronic means of communication. This general phenomenon is more precisely an acceleration of social time (i.e. the rhythm at which...

Many believe that cyberspace was born out of a world of no regulation. And many believe that the future of dispute resolution lies in the absence of the state. The general view of online dispute resolution ("ODR") follows from these beliefs: it is a new and promising form of dispute resolution,...

Agencies are accustomed to considering questions of discounting — the process that makes monetary amounts comparable through time. But valuing the future is a distinctive enterprise for reasons that go beyond discounting. This Article explores two basic features of time that create challenges...

This note considers the decision of the Irish High Court in Re Prendiville (1992) which dealt with the enforcement of half-secret trusts. It confirms, in a case where the point arose for decision, that Irish law rejects “the prior acceptance rule” favoured in the English cases. The judgment...

For decades, property owners across the United States have struggled to comply with the Clean Water Act, in large part because they do not know which “waters” are regulated. Vague definitions, inconsistent enforcement, and changing rules contribute to this ongoing problem. Despite the...

The digitalisation of markets and the economy has brought new challenges to public enforcement since the same company behaviour can fall within the competence of different authorities (e.g. competition, data protection and consumer authorities). When different authorities intervene...

This paper maps out some of the vertical restraints in the online environment that are particularly relevant from the consumer perspective. This article focuses on some of the most contentious vertical restraints that directly involve prices, are particularly relevant for online commerce and are...