ABSTRACT
The rapid rise of digital platforms such as Airbnb has facilitated the growth of peerto-peer (P2P) hires into an economy of considerable value. Despite its growing significance there has been little attention on P2P sharing from private law and regulation, resulting in a dearth of legal norms fit for governing the provision of goods and services amongst consumer peers. This regulatory gap has enabled commercial platforms to construct elaborate contractual frameworks which they use to dictate the terms of engagement for large swathes of the P2P market and impose obligations on private parties. To address this gap, I propose the use of bailment as a potential instrument in governing norms for P2P sharing, with the aims of harmonising participants’ legal obligations, protecting them from the vagaries of platforms’ user policies, and managing their risks as they engage in sharing.
Zhu, Sally, Bailment in the Peer-to-Peer Sharing Economy (October 26, 2023).
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