ABSTRACT
In 1984, Ramsay identified a number of potential market failures1 in consumer markets. Among these, two potential failures are of fundamental importance to justify the rationales for consumer protection. First, markets need adequate information on prices, quality, and terms. Second, markets need an institutional framework, which efficiently enforces individual consumer claims. One might wonder whether these old failures are still relevant today within the context of the electronic market? Does the information failure make sense in a cyberspace environment where the average consumer should be reasonably well informed and reasonably observant and circumspect? Could the cyber consumer argue the lack of information within the context of an environment, which by definition is synonymous with ‘wealth of information’? Would it not be better to leave the regulation of the cyber consumer market to the rules of the ‘perfect market’? When this market is predicted to fail what are the remedies for rescuing cyber consumer protection? There are several questions to be answered when approaching the issue of the need for cyber consumer protection.
