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ARTICLE · 17 APRIL 2016

ACL reach broadened as ACCC wins case against Valve Corporation

Clayton Utz
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Overseas online sellers will now have some clarity about their obligations to comply with the Australian Consumer Law.

AustraliaConsumer Protection
Douglas Thompson
Douglas Thompson
Kirsten Webb
Kirsten Webb
Adrian Kuti
Adrian Kuti
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Key Points:

Overseas online sellers now have some clarity about their obligations to comply with the Australian Consumer Law.

The Federal Court has clarified some important questions about the reach of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and its application to online distribution to Australian consumers where the provider is based outside Australia (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Valve Corporation (No 3) [2016] FCA 196).

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission took action against Valve Corporation alleging Valve had made misleading representations about consumer guarantees. Valve operates an online game distribution network known as Steam out of Washington State in the United States.

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