Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- PART ONE WHY IS BOILERPLATE ONE-SIDED?
- PART TWO SHOULD BOILERPLATE BE REGULATED?
- 6 Online Boilerplate: Would Mandatory Web Site Disclosure of e-Standard Terms Backfire?
- 7 Preapproved Boilerplate
- 8 “Contracting” for Credit
- 9 The Role of Nonprofits in the Production of Boilerplate
- 10 The Boilerplate Puzzle
- PART THREE INTERPRETATION OF BOILERPLATE
- PART FOUR COMMENTARY
- Notes
- Index
10 - The Boilerplate Puzzle
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- PART ONE WHY IS BOILERPLATE ONE-SIDED?
- PART TWO SHOULD BOILERPLATE BE REGULATED?
- 6 Online Boilerplate: Would Mandatory Web Site Disclosure of e-Standard Terms Backfire?
- 7 Preapproved Boilerplate
- 8 “Contracting” for Credit
- 9 The Role of Nonprofits in the Production of Boilerplate
- 10 The Boilerplate Puzzle
- PART THREE INTERPRETATION OF BOILERPLATE
- PART FOUR COMMENTARY
- Notes
- Index
Summary
Editor's Note:In this chapter, Douglas G. Baird argues that boilerplate — like mass-produced product components — should not be considered problematic for the reason it usually is, namely, the absence of meaningful bargaining. By looking at three classic contracts case, Baird suggests that boilerplate terms can hide different types of abuses, such as anticompetitive terms, misrepresentation, and provisions that circumvent mandatory protections. It is not the symptom — the standard-form provision — that is troublesome but rather the substance that it sometimes hides.
The warranty that comes with your laptop computer is one of its many product attributes. The laptop has a screen of a particular size. Its microprocessors work at a particular speed, and the battery lasts a given amount of time between rechargings. The hard drive has a certain capacity and mean time to failure. There is an instruction manual, online technical support (or lack thereof), and software. Then there are the warranties that the seller makes (or does not make) that are also part of the bundle. Just as I know the size of the screen but nothing about the speed of the microprocessor, I know about some of the warranty terms that come with the computer and remain wholly ignorant of others.
With respect to some product attributes, the seller will give buyers a choice of options. For a higher price, I can buy a computer with a bigger screen. But with respect to others, there is no choice.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- BoilerplateThe Foundation of Market Contracts, pp. 131 - 142Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007
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