11-07-2023, 07:04 PM
UPDATED JUL 9, 2023, 8:12 PM SGT
OTTAWA - A Canadian farmer has been ordered to pay more than C$82,000 (S$83,000) in damages over an emoji confusion that a Saskatchewan judge resolved by ruling that a thumbs-up image is enough to accept contractual terms.
Mr Chris Achter, the owner of a farming company in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, had sent a thumbs-up emoji in response to a photograph of a flax-buying contract sent to him by a grains buyer in 2021.
Months later, when the time of the delivery arrived, the buyer – which had been doing business with Mr Achter for several years – did not receive the flax.
That started a dispute that led to “a far-flung search for the equivalent of the Rosetta Stone in cases from Israel, New York state and some tribunals in Canada” to unearth what a thumbs-up emoji means
......
The buyer, South West Terminal, argued that the emoji implied acceptance of contractual terms, while Mr Achter said he used the thumbs-up image to indicate that he had received the contract, but not to indicate his agreement.
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/canad...vered-flax
OTTAWA - A Canadian farmer has been ordered to pay more than C$82,000 (S$83,000) in damages over an emoji confusion that a Saskatchewan judge resolved by ruling that a thumbs-up image is enough to accept contractual terms.
Mr Chris Achter, the owner of a farming company in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, had sent a thumbs-up emoji in response to a photograph of a flax-buying contract sent to him by a grains buyer in 2021.
Months later, when the time of the delivery arrived, the buyer – which had been doing business with Mr Achter for several years – did not receive the flax.
That started a dispute that led to “a far-flung search for the equivalent of the Rosetta Stone in cases from Israel, New York state and some tribunals in Canada” to unearth what a thumbs-up emoji means
......
The buyer, South West Terminal, argued that the emoji implied acceptance of contractual terms, while Mr Achter said he used the thumbs-up image to indicate that he had received the contract, but not to indicate his agreement.
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/canad...vered-flax