This chapter reviews the first generation of sharing economy regulations and proposes an approach for developing the second generation of regulations. In the first section, the chapter argues that first-generation sharing economy regulations rely on legal categories and assumptions that have been used to address business operations that have developed over decades (sometimes centuries), but that such legal approaches are at times ill-suited to regulation of the sharing economy. In the second section, the chapter argues for a new regulatory approach that directly addresses core principles or values in the sharing economy. The chapter focuses in particular on four core principles that ought to serve as foundations for the next generation of sharing economy regulations.

This chapter studies access, a short-term and casual use of property. Two forms of access are analyzed: independent access, and access in cooperative and communal projects. The chapter offers a normative evaluation of access and highlights the values and concerns associated with flexibility and mobility.It revisits the justifications for private property discussed in Chapter II and demonstrates that these justifications can also defend an alternative vision of flexibility and mobility. Yet there is an important twist. Instead of freedom from interference, access fosters freedom from being tied down to a particular space. Instead of personhood, access supports the ability to experiment with one’s personality and pushes the boundaries of the self. In addition, access affects communities and changes interactions with other people. Access also raises significant normative concerns, such as vulnerability to immediate changes in health or financial stability, and vulnerability to platform power. This chapter then suggests preliminary guidelines for reform that are later developed in Chapter VII, including removing barriers to access, promoting consumer protection, restraining platform power, and respecting the principles of communal access by adjusting the legal rules of cases involving the physical integrity of the property.

This chapter presents the sharing economy phenomenon and studies its main characteristics. It argues that it is a diverse phenomenon with diverse normative implications. There is a tendency in legal academia to focus almost exclusively on Airbnb and Uber, and this tendency flattens the complexity of the phenomenon. The chapter maps the phenomenon based on an institutional analysis, focusing on who owns or controls the property or service. It identifies four main institutional categories: peer-to-peer markets that include both for-profit projects and nonprofit enterprises, commercial companies, communal projects, and governmental programs. The distinction among forms of access is important. Each category raises different legal and policy-oriented challenges. Each category also carries different normative value from the perspective of flexibility.