Consumer Protection in the Digital Marketplace: Executive Summary

Improving Consumer Protection in Ontario’s Digital Marketplace This is the Executive Summary to the Final Report of the Law Commission of Ontario’s (LCO) Consumer Protection in the Digital Marketplace project.1 This project makes 32 recommendations to improve consumer protection in terms of service (ToS) contracts for digital products and services. [...] consumer accommodation requests; encourage The LCO notes that most of the reforms addressing proactive compliance; and clarify the mandate and the consumer protection needs of older Ontarians analytical framework for the Ministry of Public and are consistent with reforms recommended in other Business Service Delivery to investigate and resolve parts of our Final Report, including recommendations c. [...] 22 Consumer Protection in the Digital Marketplace CPA Fines Other Consumer Protection Initiatives The LCO recommends that the provincial government: The LCO recommends the Ministry of Public and 26. [...] The key to this approach is using disgorgement as a form of damages (rather than a cause of action) to the effect of “situating the promisee to weigh the marginal costs and benefits of performance… and disgorgement of the promisor’s cost as the remedy for breach” (at 573). [...] In other words, the consumer can weigh the various factors at play in the contract – such as the value of the service to the consumer against the way the supplier monetizes the user – and decide if the apparent infringement by supplier is a fair bargain or imbalanced (thus triggering potential disgorgement damages).