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The Impact of the Internet on Strict Product Liability Law

By Sarah L. Olson

Following the rise of mass product manufacturing and marketing in the 1940s and 1950s, strict product liability emerged in the 1960s and 1970s as a potent force shaping the way product manufacturers do business in America. Although the relevant common law of each state has been modified from time to time since its inception, the basic parameters of the theory have been settled for some time. Now, however, market conditions are changing dramatically, and the law is likely to change with it.

In just the last few years, the Internet has generated new levels of company-consumer interactivity. Consumers and companies are working together in new ways to design products. Consumers and companies are communicating ' both in terms of advertising and complaints about products ' more directly and frequently than ever. These developments create corresponding new legal issues. Indeed, the changing marketplace may foreshadow unanticipated changes in the traditional law of strict product liability.

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