Arbitration Clauses and Other Online Contract Terms

Interesting and well written article, Notice, Assent, and Form in a 140 Character World, by Widener University Law Professor Juliet M. Moringiello. 

She writes

From the earliest days of internet contracting disputes, courts and scholars used the terms “clickwrap” and “browsewrap” to describe the different types of electronically presented terms, with clickwrap referring to terms to which party could accept only by clicking a web site button and browsewrap denoting terms for which no click was required and which often provided that a web site user accepted them merely by browsing the web site....
The recent opinion in Tompkins v. 23andMe, Inc., Case No. 5:13-CV-05682-LHK, N.D. Cal., June 25, 2014. illustrates both the doctrinal confusion that can result from adherence to a electronic contracting lexicon that is limited to the terms “clickwrap” and “browsewrap” and the tendency of courts to hold that so long as there is notice of the notice of contract terms, a contract will be formed when the web site user takes the requested acceptance action. The dispute involved a personal genetics company that provided individuals with a genome profile developed from a DNA sample. Numerous customers of 23andMe filed class action complaints against the company alleging various false advertising and consumer protection claims, and the company moved to compel arbitration, citing the plaintiffs’ agreement to arbitrate.