Crosscutting Program

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Session Type: AALS Crosscutting Programs

Session Capacity: 198

Location: New York Hilton Midtown

Room: Sutton Center

Floor: Second Floor

The past few years have seen the rise of a new model of production and consumption of goods and services grounded in peer-to-peer transactions. In this so-called “sharing economy,” startups such as Uber, Airbnb, Lyft, and TaskRabbit enable consumers to summon rides, rent accommodations, or hire help from peers via the internet or a mobile phone application. On the supply side, sharing enables owners of homes and vehicles, or those who possess certain skills to monetize those assets or skills into income streams. The technological platforms employed by these startups enable individual producers and consumers to transact with each other with unprecedented ease. Commentators suggest that the sharing economy is transforming the way people consume and supply goods and services, and that sharing arrangements have the potential to significantly affect traditional industries and models of employment and business. As such, the sharing economy raises important legal and regulatory issues, including questions of whether and how the new startups should be regulated and questions about the appropriate relationship between regulation and innovation. This panel will examine a variety of legal issues raised by the sharing economy, including questions of property, tax, labor, consumer protection, employment discrimination, privacy, and local government law.