Abstract

This article addresses homesharing, a new term for a centuries-old practice of homeowners allowing overnight guests in their homes. Lawmakers nationwide are cracking down on homeowners’ ability to use the internet to offer their homes for rent. Next, this article discusses Angels on Earth, a dispatch service that connects people who are homebound due to age or medical condition with salon and spa services. Although its services only involved the exchange of information, bureaucrats tried to force Angels on Earth into the same regulatory framework as the cosmetologists the service deployed—a classic instance of regulatory mismatch. Finally, this article tells the story of Flytenow, an innovate startup that allows private pilots to share travel plans and trip expenses with passengers. Simply because Flytenow created a more efficient way to promote that longstanding and lawful practice, the federal government adopted new regulations that shut the business down completely.

These cases illustrate the absurdity of applying new regulations to longstanding practices—or shoehorning new businesses into old regulations—simply because technology has made the voluntary, harmless, and lawful exchange of goods and services more efficient.

How to Cite:

Christina Sandefur and Jon Riches, Sharing Economy Gag Rule: Targeting Communication Innovations in the Information Age, 2 Ariz. L. J. Emerging Tech., no. 1, 2017, https://doi.org/10.2458/azlawjet.5496