Online-Dispute Resolution - Paving the way towards harmonising the Birksian archipelago of obligations?

Abstract

It is only natural that the rise of e-commerce is coupled with an increasing number of disputes; eBay alone has seen a record 60 million cases opened under its online dispute-resolution (‘ODR’) scheme. While this can be regarded as the first step towards the creation of an online rule- of-law, such ODR mechanisms are often shrouded in uncertainty. In that regard, this paper explores ODR mechanisms in both established, and in, what we describe as ‘informal’ marketplaces, such as commerce on Reddit and Discord. This paper first asks whether these ODR mechanisms give rise to its own jurisprudence possibly inconsistent with “offline” rules of law, and whether such a bifurcation of “online” and “offline” rules of law is normatively desired. Next, it then queries the limitations of various policies and regulations which attempt to strengthen ODR mechanisms. It contends that various policies are disconnected from their practical implementation and constraints which ODR platforms face. Ultimately, it concludes that a more nuanced approach is required if such frameworks were to be harmonised across Courts through the proposed taxonomy. Current international recommendations, while a good starting point, should be condensed to certain principles which may be adopted across platforms, while preserving site-autonomy across different types of platforms.