ABSTRACT
Advances in information technology now provide consumers around the world with access to new products and services. With new opportunities come new challenges, which in turn call into question the adequacy of consumer protection laws enacted with industrial economy products and services in mind. Even the relevance of consumer law might be called into question, given that information in digital form is not even ‘consumed’ the way that tangible products are.1 This chapter will consider what, if any, special protections consumers should be entitled to expect with regard to new products and markets in light of past and present understandings of the notion of consumer protection. An analysis of current developments suggests that consumers’ entitlements vary considerably among different countries, and over time.
