News and Research articles on Standard form contracts

Zombie contracts, dark patterns of design, and ‘documentisation’

Kristin B. Cornelius, University of California, Los Angeles
PUBLISHED ON: 30 Jun 2019 DOI: 10.14763/2019.2.1412

Standard form consumer contracts (SFCCs), including Terms of Service agreements, are drafted by businesses and presented to consumers on a non-negotiable basis. Since these contracts present an asymmetric imbalance of information and resources between parties, they have been of concern for consumer rights in recent years. While some have characterized these issues as a ‘duty to read’ for consumers or as egregious terms and weak disclosures by drafters,’ this project suggests at least part of the issues exist from a lack of consideration of the document itself (i.e., medium, format, authenticy, reliability, stability) and the processes that deem it ‘standard.’

Standard form contracts and a smart contract future

Kristin B. Cornelius, University of California, Los Angeles
PUBLISHED ON: 15 May 2018 DOI: 10.14763/2018.2.790

With widespread smart contract implementation on the horizon, there is much conversation about how to regulate this new technology. Noting the failure of contract law to address the inequities of standardised contracts in the digital environment can help prevent them from being codified further into smart contracts.