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The latest issue of the Australian Journal of Competition and Consumer Law (Volume 31 Part 1) contains the following material:
- An Act for All Seasons
Articles
Illusory Influencers and the Inadequacy of the Current Regulation of Social Media Advertising in Australia – Mekayla McMahon
Social media advertising represents a new era of marketing that allows businesses to interact with consumers on a vast range of platforms. Advertising on social media can be potentially misleading or deceptive due to the lack of disclosure by Social Media Influencers (SMIs) to their audiences as to the commercial arrangements underpinning products that they promote. This article explores how regulated disclosure obligations might help to combat the deceptive nature of what is referred to as “native advertising”. Previous research on this topic has predominantly been approached from a marketing perspective. However, this article will focus on consumer protection regulation. The relevant legislative frameworks in the United Kingdom will inform a potential model which could be adopted in Australia to ensure regulation is adequate. Examining ways of protecting consumers from misleading or deceptive advertising in the new era of social media marketing is the core purpose of this article.
Who is Responsible for an Internet of Unsafe Things under the Australia Consumer Law? – Dr Evana Wright, Professor David Lindsay and Dr Genevieve Wilkinson
Internet of Things (IoT) devices are ubiquitous, with connected devices found in a diverse range of fields, including industry, transport, agriculture, health care and the home. IoT devices pose challenges to security and privacy, and existing laws in Australia are insufficient to address the risks posed. The loss or damage from exploiting insecure IoT devices can include physical injury, damage to property, loss of data, invasion of privacy and exposure to future harms, such as theft or fraud. There is uncertainty about how the product liability and product safety regimes under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) apply to consumer IoT devices, especially where harm arises due to security vulnerabilities. This article explores the issues in applying the product liability and product safety regimes under the ACL to insecure consumer IoT devices and provides recommendations for reform to ensure that the ACL is responsive to emerging technologies and protects IoT consumers from harm.
Two Steps Forward, Four Steps Back: Threats Facing Australian Criminal Cartel Convictions after Country Care and ANZ – Alan Zheng
The history of antitrust is unified by a common thread that cartels are, as Adam Smith saw them – a “conspiracy against the public” and in the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s words, “the supreme evil of Antitrust”. However, their criminalisation is a relatively modern chapter in that story. Nearly two decades on from the Dawson Review’s broad and imprecise recommendation that there should criminal sanctions for “serious” cartel behaviour, there are now outcomes from two contested criminal cartel cases in Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions v The Country Care Group Pty Ltd and Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v Citigroup Global Markets Australia Pty Ltd. This article identifies and evaluates a substantial set of legislative, forensic and policy-based obstacles, as evidenced in both cases, which will complicate criminal cartel convictions in Australia going forward.
AUTHORISATIONS AND NOTIFICATIONS – Editor: Rosannah Healy
- “Sustainability Agreement” Authorisations: The ACCC Authorises the Australian Bedding Stewardship Council Limited’s “Recycle My Mattress” Scheme – Anoushka William
CONSUMER PROTECTION – Editor: Bernard McCabe
- The Australian Consumer Law and Marketing and Transactional Webs on the Internet – Bernard McCabe and Julia White
TELECOMMUNICATIONS – Editor: Professor Niloufer Selvadurai
- Addressing the Anti-competitive Effects of Digital Platforms: The European Response – Holly Raiche
CASE NOTE – Editor: Christopher Hodgekiss SC
- High Stakes in Exchange Rate Cartel as Federal Court Sentences Individuals to Jail Time: Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v Vina Money Transfer Pty Ltd – Carla Massaria
- AER Year in Review – Tumultuous Times: The Regulator’s Role in Restoring Trust and Confidence in Energy Markets – Australian Energy Regulator
- Consumer Protections for Shoppers Seeking Sustainable Purchasers. What Is Missing? – Kristal Burry
LANDMARKS – Editor: Christopher Hodgekiss SC
- Singapore Airlines Ltd v Taprobane Tours WA Pty Ltd – Simon Muys and Maisie Adams
REPORT FROM ASIA – Editor: Andrew Christopher
- South Korean Competition Law: Recent Reforms, Enforcement and Opportunities for the Future – Lachlan Blair
REPORT FROM NEW ZEALAND – Editor: Lindsay Trotman
- Unfair Contract Terms in New Zealand – Matthew Berkahn and Lindsay Trotman
For the PDF version of the table of contents, click here: New Westlaw Australia – AJCCL Vol 31 No 1 Contents.
Click here to access this Part on New Westlaw AU
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