Products liability and e-commerce. The private international law problem in the background of the recent US case law. The widespread use of digital technologies requires an analysis of the types and boundaries of the liability of e-commerce platforms. Assuming the point of view of European judges being asked to rule on compensation for damages caused by defective products sold on electronic platforms, a comparison with the US case law, which has recently held them liable for strict product liability even when they are neither manufacturers nor retailers of the defective products, may be very useful also in the European area. In this context, the need to reconsider the qualification methodology based exclusively on the categories of the lex fori emerges very clearly. Indeed, considering the different contractual schemes used by platforms, in the hypothesis of damages caused by defective products, it seems tenable that they would be liable even if they qualify themselves only as mere intermediaries, providers of digital services, both by means of assimilating them to “real producers” or, alternatively, through the category of “obblighi di protezione” (“Schutzpflichten” or “obligations de securité”).
Danni da prodotto e commercio elettronico. La problematica internazionalprivatistica sullo sfondo di una recente giurisprudenza americana
Edoardo Alberto Rossi
2023
Abstract
Products liability and e-commerce. The private international law problem in the background of the recent US case law. The widespread use of digital technologies requires an analysis of the types and boundaries of the liability of e-commerce platforms. Assuming the point of view of European judges being asked to rule on compensation for damages caused by defective products sold on electronic platforms, a comparison with the US case law, which has recently held them liable for strict product liability even when they are neither manufacturers nor retailers of the defective products, may be very useful also in the European area. In this context, the need to reconsider the qualification methodology based exclusively on the categories of the lex fori emerges very clearly. Indeed, considering the different contractual schemes used by platforms, in the hypothesis of damages caused by defective products, it seems tenable that they would be liable even if they qualify themselves only as mere intermediaries, providers of digital services, both by means of assimilating them to “real producers” or, alternatively, through the category of “obblighi di protezione” (“Schutzpflichten” or “obligations de securité”).I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
