What do you think?
Rate this book
Boilerplate: The Fine Print, Vanishing Rights, and the Rule of Law
Why the increasing use of boilerplate is eroding our rights
Boilerplate―the fine-print terms and conditions that we become subject to when we click "I agree" online, rent an apartment, enter an employment contract, sign up for a cellphone carrier, or buy travel tickets―pervades all aspects of our modern lives. On a daily basis, most of us accept boilerplate provisions without realizing that should a dispute arise about a purchased good or service, the nonnegotiable boilerplate terms can deprive us of our right to jury trial and relieve providers of responsibility for harm. Boilerplate is the first comprehensive treatment of the problems posed by the increasing use of these terms, demonstrating how their use has degraded traditional notions of consent, agreement, and contract, and sacrificed core rights whose loss threatens the democratic order.
Margaret Jane Radin examines attempts to justify the use of boilerplate provisions by claiming either that recipients freely consent to them or that economic efficiency demands them, and she finds these justifications wanting. She argues, moreover, that our courts, legislatures, and regulatory agencies have fallen short in their evaluation and oversight of the use of boilerplate clauses. To improve legal evaluation of boilerplate, Radin offers a new analytical framework, one that takes into account the nature of the rights affected, the quality of the recipient's consent, and the extent of the use of these terms. Radin goes on to offer possibilities for new methods of boilerplate evaluation and control, among them the bold suggestion that tort law rather than contract law provides a preferable analysis for some boilerplate schemes. She concludes by discussing positive steps that NGOs, legislators, regulators, courts, and scholars could take to bring about better practices.
Boilerplate―the fine-print terms and conditions that we become subject to when we click "I agree" online, rent an apartment, enter an employment contract, sign up for a cellphone carrier, or buy travel tickets―pervades all aspects of our modern lives. On a daily basis, most of us accept boilerplate provisions without realizing that should a dispute arise about a purchased good or service, the nonnegotiable boilerplate terms can deprive us of our right to jury trial and relieve providers of responsibility for harm. Boilerplate is the first comprehensive treatment of the problems posed by the increasing use of these terms, demonstrating how their use has degraded traditional notions of consent, agreement, and contract, and sacrificed core rights whose loss threatens the democratic order.
Margaret Jane Radin examines attempts to justify the use of boilerplate provisions by claiming either that recipients freely consent to them or that economic efficiency demands them, and she finds these justifications wanting. She argues, moreover, that our courts, legislatures, and regulatory agencies have fallen short in their evaluation and oversight of the use of boilerplate clauses. To improve legal evaluation of boilerplate, Radin offers a new analytical framework, one that takes into account the nature of the rights affected, the quality of the recipient's consent, and the extent of the use of these terms. Radin goes on to offer possibilities for new methods of boilerplate evaluation and control, among them the bold suggestion that tort law rather than contract law provides a preferable analysis for some boilerplate schemes. She concludes by discussing positive steps that NGOs, legislators, regulators, courts, and scholars could take to bring about better practices.
- GenresLawNonfiction
360 pages, Paperback
First published November 25, 2012
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 26, 2013
Every day, consumers lose legal rights that are supposed to be guaranteed, through legal forms used by businesses that cannot be altered, called 'boilerplate.' These forms routinely cancel rights to a jury trial and forcing arbitration instead, which is believed to be more favorable to businesses, no record is made of their decisions and class actions are not permissible. These boilerplate forms are widespread in the U.S., rarely read and even more rarely understood, and often don't even require signing (eg. parking lot tickets).
Why don't consumers read boilerplate? Because they wouldn't understand the terms anyway, we have no access to corporations that do not impose such clauses, we think anything the forms are unenforceable, or we simply believe that nothing bad will happen to us personally.
Why do businesses use boilerplate? It makes their world more favorable to their business. But it takes away from our democratically earned rights, and Radin outlines how that happens in full detail.
Radin also offers ideas for ways to fix the system, which would take some overhauling of the current system pushed by a consumer revolution.
'Boilerplate' is not easy reading, but it is intelligent and well-researched and makes a very compelling argument.
Why don't consumers read boilerplate? Because they wouldn't understand the terms anyway, we have no access to corporations that do not impose such clauses, we think anything the forms are unenforceable, or we simply believe that nothing bad will happen to us personally.
Why do businesses use boilerplate? It makes their world more favorable to their business. But it takes away from our democratically earned rights, and Radin outlines how that happens in full detail.
Radin also offers ideas for ways to fix the system, which would take some overhauling of the current system pushed by a consumer revolution.
'Boilerplate' is not easy reading, but it is intelligent and well-researched and makes a very compelling argument.
Displaying 1 of 1 review