Beware If You are a

Abstract

"First, the man was illiterate. Then he became literate. In recent times, he has even become e-literate”. Justice Saleem Marsoof thus highlights, in a nutshell, the technological evolution of mankind which took place within a noticeably short period of time. Unlike in the past, where the sale of only physical, or rather tangible goods occurred, in the contemporary era, the consumers are well capable of buying goods which have no physical existence, such as computer software, from numerous online stores. These goods could broadly be categorised as intangible digital goods due to the fact that the entire transaction takes place on a digital platform without coming into contact with a human hand. Whether it be a mobile application, a video game, or even an office tool such as Microsoft word, the buying of which has become commonplace as a matter of convenience, since the purchaser can simply make the payment using his/her credit card at his/her leisure. Although this is the current social situation, from a legal point of view, it is highly doubtful as to what form of legal protection would be afforded to these digital goods under the existing overly outdated consumer protection regime. Thus, this research is conducted to analyse the legal system of Sri Lanka with regard to consumer protection using the black letter approach, with a comparative analysis of UK, and New Zealand legislations, in order to ascertain the extent to which a "digital consumer" is protected in Sri Lanka in respect of intangible goods purchased.