Australian consumer protection law contains broad and flexible prohibitions on misleading and unconscionable conduct in trade or commerce. Yet concerns have been raised that these prohibitions are unsuitable for responding to predatory business systems. These are businesses that, by design or operation, target consumers experiencing vulnerability to offer costly products ill-suited to their needs. This concern has arisen in response to prominent instances of products of dubious efficacy offered to marginalized communities. It has also arisen from concerns over the increasing potential for data-driven digital marketing to manipulate consumer choice by targeting with fine-grained accuracy consumer vulnerabilities. In response to these concerns, it has been suggested that the Australian Consumer Law should be reformed, by introducing a prohibition on “unfair trading” inspired by the general prohibitions on such conduct in the EU and USA. This paper explores the key considerations relevant in assessing the merits of this proposed statutory “transplant.” Ultimately, the paper is supportive of the proposed reform, while also recognizing its limits.

中文翻译：

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澳大利亚应该禁止不公平交易吗？亲自和在线响应剥削性的业务系统

澳大利亚消费者保护法包含广泛而灵活的禁止贸易或商业中的误导和不合情理的行为。然而，有人担心这些禁令不适合应对掠夺性商业系统。这些企业在设计或运营方面旨在针对面临脆弱性的消费者提供不适合他们需求的昂贵产品。这种担忧是由于向边缘化社区提供的功效可疑的产品的突出实例而引起的。它还源于人们担心数据驱动的数字营销通过精确定位消费者漏洞来操纵消费者选择的可能性越来越大。针对这些担忧，有人建议改革澳大利亚消费者法，受欧盟和美国对此类行为的普遍禁令的启发，引入了对“不公平贸易”的禁令。本文探讨了与评估这项拟议的法定“移植”的优点相关的关键考虑因素。最终，该文件支持拟议的改革，同时也承认其局限性。