Abstract
The sharing or collaborative economy, including prominent platform-based businesses such as Uber and Airbnb, harnesses online technology to match service providers and users. The EU has identified this sector as providing wide-ranging opportunities for growth, while acknowledging its potential to disrupt existing regulatory frameworks and, in this way, create risks for service providers and users alike. This chapter focuses specifically on the information law-related aspects of the sharing economy. In a move to support certainty in the area and to clarify its own position, the EU has recently published its agenda on the collaborative economy. This policy document is analysed in the light of its implications for EU information technology law and policy. Areas such as intermediary liability, data protection, ratings systems and the use of algorithms are analysed to draw conclusions on the effectiveness of the EU’s regulatory approach and to make predictions for the future development of law and policy.
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Notes
- 1.
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, A European agenda for the collaborative economy COM(2016) 356 final {SWD(2016) 184 final} (EU Agenda on the Collaborative Economy).
- 2.
Botsman and Rogers (2010), p. 11.
- 3.
Allen and Berg (2014), pp. 13–16.
- 4.
Daunoriene and others (2015), p. 837.
- 5.
Goudin (2015), p. 16.
- 6.
- 7.
COM(2016) 356 final.
- 8.
Kennedy (2016), pp. 461–474.
- 9.
Goudin (2015), p. 10.
- 10.
Ibid, p. 11.
- 11.
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Upgrading the Single Market: more opportunities for people and business. COM (2015) 550 final.
- 12.
COM (2016) 356 final, p. 3.
- 13.
Botsman (2015).
- 14.
Banning (2016), pp. 489–503.
- 15.
Isaac and Picker (2015).
- 16.
https://www.uber.com/cities/ Accessed 8 Sept 2016.
- 17.
https://www.airtasker.com/ Accessed 8 Sept 2016.
- 18.
https://www.openshed.com.au/ Accessed 8 Sept 2016.
- 19.
https://dogvacay.com/ Accessed 8 Sept 2016.
- 20.
Labbe (2016).
- 21.
Uber (2016).
- 22.
Benner (2016).
- 23.
Dervojeda and others (2013), p. 2.
- 24.
European Commission (2015).
- 25.
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, A Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe, COM (2015) 192 final.
- 26.
COM(2015) 550 final, par. 3.3.1.
- 27.
COM (2015) 192 final.
- 28.
IPSOS (2015).
- 29.
Tussyadiah and Pesonen (2016), p. 14.
- 30.
Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (E-Commerce Directive), OJ L 178/1.
- 31.
E-Commerce Directive, Recital 17.
- 32.
COM (2016) 356 final {SWD(2016) 184 final}p. 6.
- 33.
E-Commerce Directive, Article 12.
- 34.
Ibid, Article 14.
- 35.
Ibid, Article 15.
- 36.
Guadamuz (2014), pp. 312–366.
- 37.
Supra, n6.
- 38.
CJEU, L’Oréal SA and Others v eBay International AG and Others, C-324/09, Judgment of 12 July 2011.
- 39.
L’Oréal SA and Others v eBay International AG and Others, par. 124.
- 40.
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Online Platforms and the Digital Single Market Opportunities and Challenges for Europe, COM (2016) 288 final (Communication on Online Platforms).
- 41.
COM (2016) 288 final, p. 9.
- 42.
Regulation 2016/679/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) OJ L 119/1.
- 43.
Ibid, Article 4(1).
- 44.
Ibid, Article 4(7).
- 45.
Ibid, Article 4(8).
- 46.
Ibid, Recital 32.
- 47.
Ibid, Article 6(1)(a).
- 48.
Bourne (2015), p. 1.
- 49.
Regulation 2016/679/EU, Article.33(1).
- 50.
Ibid, Article 33(2).
- 51.
Ibid, Article 35.
- 52.
Ibid, Recital 78.
- 53.
Ibid, Article 20.
- 54.
Ibid, Article 6(1).
- 55.
Ibid, Article 20(2).
- 56.
Ibid, Recital 68.
- 57.
Ibid, Article 20.
- 58.
Ibid, Article 20(1).
- 59.
Bureau Europeen des Unions de Consommateurs (2016).
- 60.
Regulation 2016/679/EU, Article 16.
- 61.
Ibid, Article 17.
- 62.
COM (2016) 356 final, p. 10.
- 63.
Li and Hitt (2008), pp. 456–474.
- 64.
Allen and Berg (2014), p. 29.
- 65.
Resnick and others (2000), pp. 45–48.
- 66.
Edelman and others (2016), p. 17.
- 67.
Harman (2014).
- 68.
Fradkin (2015), p. 4.
- 69.
Nosko and Tadelis (2015), pp. 1–14.
- 70.
Gibb (2016).
- 71.
Reviewmeta (2016).
- 72.
COM(2016) 356 final, p. 4.
- 73.
Goudin (2015), pp. 29–30.
- 74.
PandoMonthly (2013).
- 75.
Hern (2016).
- 76.
European Commission (2016) par. 5.2.6.3.
- 77.
Ibid.
- 78.
COM (2016) 356 final.
- 79.
Ibid, p. 2.
- 80.
Fradkin (2015), p. 31.
- 81.
UberEstimator (2016).
- 82.
BBC News (2014).
- 83.
Banning (2016), pp. 489–503.
- 84.
Ibid p. 499.
- 85.
Noulas and others (2015), p. 18.
- 86.
Lee and others (2015), pp. 1603–1612.
- 87.
Ibid p. 1610.
- 88.
Martens (2016), p. 45.
- 89.
{SWD(2016) 184 final}.
- 90.
Koopman and others (2014), p. 19.
- 91.
Elert and Henrekson (2016), pp. 95–113.
- 92.
European Commission (2016), p. 26.
- 93.
Martens (2016), pp. 44–46.
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Easton, C. (2017). European Union Information Law and the Sharing Economy. In: Synodinou, TE., Jougleux, P., Markou, C., Prastitou, T. (eds) EU Internet Law. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64955-9_7
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