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SquareTrade Launches New Consumer Protection Tool
First Online Dispute Resolution Pilot on eBay
SAN FRANCISCO - March 20, 2000 - SquareTrade today announced its online
dispute resolution offering via the successful launch of a pilot
program to customers of eBay, the world's leading person-to-person
online trading community. In the past three weeks, buyers and sellers
have accessed SquareTrade's patent-pending technology and network of
trained mediators to resolve a wide variety of disputes efficiently
and effectively.
SquareTrade offers a structured and unbiased multi-step process to guide
the disputing parties to a resolution, which is conducted completely
online. SquareTrade assigns a mediator from its network of more than
150 trained mediators and arbitrators who work with the two parties to
develop a fair, agreeable settlement. SquareTrade's online dispute
resolution service provides a critical Internet infrastructure that
gives buyers and sellers the confidence they need prior to a
transaction when conducting business online.
"We are excited about the successful launch of SquareTrade. SquareTrade
is the online destination for resolving e-commerce disputes," says
Steven Abernethy, President, CEO and Co-founder of SquareTrade. "Not
only is SquareTrade currently resolving disputes online, but it is
building trust between buyers and sellers in online marketplaces.
Higher levels of confidence will help to further the use of the
Internet both by consumers and businesses. As suggested by FTC
Chairman Robert Pitofsky: 'Alternative dispute resolution programs can
contribute to consumer confidence in Internet commerce without being
unduly burdensome to business.'"
"SquareTrade's online dispute resolution service can resolve
disagreements in a proactive, 'win-win' manner," says Jeff Jordan,
Vice President, eBay Services. "Their pilot program is contributing
to eBay's goal of offering services that help people trade safely and
confidently."
Government and public policy bodies have called for increased consumer
protections and access to mediation for e-commerce. With the launch
of its online dispute resolution service, SquareTrade provides a
solution that addresses a critical e-commerce need identified by the
Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Commerce and the European
Union:
- "We want the industry to self-police, and to gain the public's
trust," said Secretary of Commerce William Daley in a January 14, 2000
address to the Fairfax County, VA Chamber of Commerce. "In my
opinion, one element of this has to be alternative dispute
resolution."
- "It is essential… that the (EU) Commission propose alternative
dispute-resolution machinery without delay," states a Jan. 2000 draft
report commissioned by the European Parliament.
About SquareTrade
SquareTrade provides the premier online dispute resolution service.
Fair, accessible and Web-based, SquareTrade's critical Internet
infrastructure gives buyers and sellers the confidence they need to
conduct consumer-to-consumer, business-to-consumer and
business-to-business e-commerce transactions. Founded in 1999,
SquareTrade has an expanding network today comprised of more than 150
trained mediators and arbitrators. SquareTrade's advisory board of
leading experts in cyberlaw and alternative dispute resolution include
Roger Fisher, Professor Emeritus at Harvard Law School,
Founder/Director of the Harvard Negotiation Project and author of
"Getting to Yes"; David Johnson, Partner, Wilmer Cutler & Pickering,
Washington, D.C. and ex-Chairman, Electronic Frontier Foundation;
Jonathan Zittrain, Executive Director, Berkman Center for Internet and
Society, Harvard Law School; and Ethan Katsh, Co-Director, Center for
Dispute Resolution and Information Technology, University of
Massachusetts, Amherst. Its offices are based in San Francisco, CA.
For more information, employment opportunities or to contact
SquareTrade representatives, visit the Website at
www.squaretrade.com.
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