平台经济中的弱势群体保护

Protecting the Weaker Parties in the Platform Economy

近年来,以平台经济、分享经济、P2P、协作经济等多种名称闻名的全新商业模式应运而生,其利用数字技术通过网络平台连接不同用户群体,助推资产与服务交易便捷化。这一商业形态和市场结构的剧变引发了一场激烈的讨论,即在双边B2C交易模式中采取的用来保护弱势群体的管制措施是否应当继续维持。人们普遍呼吁建立一个更为"平等的竞争环境",这为重新考量监管范围及将监管责任下放给平台提供了有力的支持。本文对此提出质疑。平台经常利用标准化文本、体系结构和算法对包括需求方、供给方在内的用户施加影响,而市场机制多大程度上能自发地形成针对这一问题的解决办法尚未可知。本文第一部分旨在阐述平台缩小不平等性的原因,并解释为何这一结论未能充分考虑到许多相反的因素。第二部分则对网络平台所采用的条款进行检视,以此评估其是否映射出各方权利义务的不对等。本文认为在新兴交易市场中保护弱势群体利益至关重要,并提出些许建议。

Known by many names-platform,sharing,peer-to-peer(P2P),collaborative economy,and so on-entirely new business models have emerged in recent years,whereby online platforms use digital technologies to connect distinct groups of users in order to facilitate transactions for exchange of assets and services.This dramatic shift in business organization and market structure has opened an intense debate on the persisting need for those regulatory measures that typically protect the weaker party in bilateral business-to-consumer transactions.Widespread calls for a more“leveled playing field”makes a strong argument for reconsidering the scope of regulation and delegating regulatory responsibility to the platforms.The chapter calls into question these assumptions.It demonstrates that platforms make frequent use of boilerplate,architecture and algorithms to leverage their power over users-whether customers or providers-and that it is still not clear to what extent effective market-based solutions are emerging to tackle these issues.Part I illustrates the reasons for the alleged reduction of disparities,and it explains why such conclusion fails to fully appreciate the many grounds to the contrary.Part II scrutinizes terms and conditions adopted by online platforms to assess whether they mirror an imbalance in the parties’rights and obligations.The article concludes that it is crucial to protect the weaker parties in these emerging markets,and it presents some brief recommendations.