April 12, 2013

Online contract impact, privacy to be examined

by Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The effect of online contracts on our day-to-day lives is the focus of a presentation next week at the SIU School of Law.

Nancy S. Kim, a professor at California Western School of Law in San Diego, Calif., will present “Click to Accept: How Online Contracts Shape the Internet and Our Behavior,” at 5 p.m., Tuesday, April 16, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.


Media Advisory

Reporters, photographers and camera crews are welcome to cover the program at the SIU School of Law.  For more information or to arrange interviews, contact Alicia Ruiz, the law school’s director of communication and outreach, at 618/453-8700.


The lecture, part of the Dean’s Colloquium Series at the law school, will be in the Hiram H. Lesar Law Building, room 102.  The event is free, and the public is welcome to attend.

Steven J. Macias, an assistant professor at the law school, said online contracts affect our lives “often without us even realizing.”  He anticipates Kim will discuss online contracts such as the typical “iTunes” contract and software update agreements, but also “contracts that people don’t even realize they are entering simply by visiting a web page or using their email.” 

Kim will also discuss privacy implications that come with these types of non-traditional contracts, called “Wrap Contracts,” and agreements, he said.

Kim is author of the forthcoming book, “Wrap Contracts: Foundations and Ramifications.”  She is chair-elect of the section on Contracts and a member of the executive committee of the section on commercial and related consumer law of the American Association of Law Schools.

Kim’s scholarly interests focus on culture and law, contracts, women and the law, and technology.