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The 31 page agreement is to use the app-store at *ALL*, not specific to this particular app -- indeed you'd have to agree to the same agreement in order to install a *free* app on your own apple-product.

It's not an outlier. Instead it's common and indeed the norm for things like software, insurance, banking and suchlike to routinely ask users to "agree" to dozens and dozens of terms written in legalese over many many pages.

It's *not* reasonable to expect the average consumer to read and understand it all, indeed it's frequently not possible to be sure what exactly it means even for someone *with* a law-degree and 2 days time to study the agreement in detail.

Even your example link ? "Terms and Conditions" brings up a 580 word summary with a link to "Full Terms and Conditions", this alone is a huge warning-sign: It says: we don't actually expect even those who click "Terms and Conditions" to want to wrestle with the *actual* terms, so we summarised for you.

The *actual* terms and conditions are at http://vodafone.com.au/personal/plans/termsandconditions/index.htm and weigh in at 4055 words and more than 25KB of text. (that's not counting the html-markup - just the plain text) The text has a readability-score that indicates even most college-graduates would be unable to comprehend it in detail. (fog-index of 14 where 7-8 is the level of average people and 10-12 the level of average college-graduates)

Since average reading-speed is about 200wpm (and goes down with more complex text) we're talking a text that would take more than half an hour just to read - nevermind understand.

Is that reasonable for a bog-standard contract for a mobile-phone-subscription ? It's not as far-out as the Appstore, but it's still fairly bad.

I agree that 31 pages for a 99c app is retarded, or at the very least suspicious. An executive summary of sorts that plain-Englishes the key points that you actually need to know really wouldn't be too much too ask in that case.

My experience with mobile phone T&Cs on the other hand has generally been pretty straightforward - for example, here shows "included data" telling you exactly how much Youtubing you can get away with, and the "additional data charges" under "more details" shows what'll happen after that. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect customers to understand at least that much.

Vodafone PR keeps repeating -- both in the press and on their website -- that the information was "not publicly available on the internet" which, although technically true, is disingenuous. What IS being asserted is that the credentials to access the "secure" information were well known.

So much information should never have been made public. As others have remarked, not all the breached information needed to be available online. They also should have had individual log-on's and layered access.

Also, some other systems log user queries for later audit / scrutiny (e.g. the police database here in NSW). Definitely not fool-proof but a deterrent.

Yes, millions - Vodafone Hutchinson Australia (which owns the Vodafone and 3 networks in Australia) had 6.3 million customers as of September 2009.

I know this is a side point, but can we PLEASE stop with the rubbish about the Nexus One being "not in production"? Google simply stopped selling it from their store. The N1 is very much alive, and indeed is still being launched from new carriers around the world (eg: Vodafone in Australia just a month ago).

Prepaid data is almost like highway robbery in Canada. $2.99 CAD (~2.93USD) for 20MB I don't have data on Google Voice, but Skype is roughly 30kbps, so 20MB would only last 11 minutes.

And I though we Australians had it bad. With Vodafone I can at least get 500 MB for A$20. This expires in 30 days (great for visitors/temporary internet access I suppose) but if you get the 12 GB package for A$150 you get 12 months.

We got computers that do more then math becuase people wanted to do more then math with computers. But that doesn't mean we get rid of calculators becuase calculators are far cheaper and smaller then computers with an interface far more suited to doing math. Unfortunately that same can't be said about cell phones.

...I hate you, so much.

For anyone who's wondering, go here. It'll change your life. No, really.

So as not to be completely offtopic, I will say this: American mobile phone providers are *evil* - between patchy coverage, ridiculous fees, vendor lock-in, and horrible customer service, it's almost not worth the bother. The iPhone drama, as much as it's riding the "cool tech" bandwagon to make it into the news, seems to be just the tip of the iceberg.

I've been with Vodafone Australia for a few years now, and I love them. $80/mo for up to $550 worth of voice/text/data? Check. Unlocking branded handsets? All you need to do is fill in a freaking web form. Charges for receiving calls? Hell no! Customer service? Awesome, never had a problem. Number portability? I've had the same one for 8 years with 3 different carriers, doesn't matter where I am in the country.

That, combined with better national coverage in a country with more land area than the lower 48 and less than a tenth of the population. Plus we're close enough to Asia that if we want new tech that isn't sold here, half the time we don't even get charged for shipping =)

...I hate you, so much.

For anyone who's wondering, go here. It'll change your life. No, really.

So as not to be completely offtopic, I will say this: American mobile phone providers are *evil* - between patchy coverage, ridiculous fees, vendor lock-in, and horrible customer service, it's almost not worth the bother. The iPhone drama, as much as it's riding the "cool tech" bandwagon to make it into the news, seems to be just the tip of the iceberg.

I've been with Vodafone Australia for a few years now, and I love them. $80/mo for up to $550 worth of voice/text/data? Check. Unlocking branded handsets? All you need to do is fill in a freaking web form. Charges for receiving calls? Hell no! Customer service? Awesome, never had a problem. Number portability? I've had the same one for 8 years with 3 different carriers, doesn't matter where I am in the country.

That, combined with better national coverage in a country with more land area than the lower 48 and less than a tenth of the population. Plus we're close enough to Asia that if we want new tech that isn't sold here, half the time we don't even get charged for shipping =)

Well check out what the major carriers in Autralia charge. Optus, Telstra (shudder), Vodafone, 3. $1AU ~ 0.$7US.

We also get options like free talk time within the same carrier, free sms messages etc. Depends on your carrier and your plant and all that.

My phone is largely used for business and I get a lot more calls than I make. However I do use it quite a bit. I pay $50/mnth for a capped plan that gives me $230 of calls/sms etc. Calls are ~$.30 flagfall and ~$0.1/second. I never really hit the cap.

That aside, to my mind it doesn't matter whether the system in the US works or not. It's just plain stupid to have a system where you pay for the actions of someone else, ie someone calling you. There is no logic behind it.

Blackberrys are a huge thing in Australia almost every mobile phone company sells them, heck even some ISPs sell them, if they come here with their patent crap I wouldn't be shocked if it causes their assassintio, as you know Australians arn't so called normal.

We only have 4 GSM-based providers... Telstra, Optus, Vodafone and Virgin.

Each has good plans for certain segments of the population... If you are only down for a short time, and unlikely to have many Australian people to contact regularly, then a cheap prepaid option (from any of the four) will probably suffice.

If you're heading to Canberra, are you going to be spending much time outside the city? GSM service falls off pretty sharply outside the urban centres in Australia... Also, Telstra is generally the most expensive in any category, but has the best coverage outside the city areas...

Incoming calls are not charged in .au...

If you outline your expected call usage, a better opinion can be given...

I have been a vodafone customer for many years now, with no complaints ever... but that's not to say that they're the cheapest for everybody...

Isn't an SMS a short ( <1second) call to a messaging centre? When I took my GSM phone from Australia to Europe in 1997, the charge for sending an SMS was A$0.11, which represented the cost of a short international call to the Australian message centre. An SMS sent from Australia was charged at A$0.25 at the time (and remains above A$0.20 still). When SMS became wildly popular in Australia, the phone companies must have been rubbing their hands together with glee. Since 1997 the companies have begun charging extra (A$0.75) for "International TXT" (though during my search I found that Orange doesn't, to their credit).

I'm sure an SMS wouldn't cost the phone companies more than $0.02 to deliver. Otherwise, how could Telstra afford to offer 200 messages per night? Admittedly to other Telstra customers, but still...

I was just talking about this with an Australian friend. Here in the US most phones are pretty cheap but over there the prices are horrible. A very low end and basic phone will run around $700. Now I am not sure on exchange rates of if they were talking in Australian/US money but the point it the prices are much higher.

Exactly the reason I am with, and very loyal to, Vodafone Australia. They have completely decoupled the purchase of the phone from the provision of mobile service. I myself am on a $40-for-$60-worth-of-charges-per-month plan while independantly paying off a T610 for around $20 per month over 2 years ($AU of course). This lets them advertise something like "The $60 plan with phone X included" to keep up with the other companies linked plans but giving me the flexability to choose what I like. I could change plans, or go to pre-paid or could have bought a more/less expensive phone and neither choice would effect the other. This is why no matter how good the deals from Optus or Telstra sound sometimes I wouldn't go near them. That and their weird charges (peak/off-peak..sort of off-peak..free time..upside down time...what-time-is-it-time...) where you have to look at your watch every time you make a call. With Vodafone my plan is $0.44/min every day all day, simple!

Btw, although I may sound like it I don't work for Vodafone, I've just moved from phone company to phone company for quite some time and this is the first time I've been satisfied (both landline and mobile) and they have AMAZINGLY good customer service... it's a bit bizzare actually.

Exactly the reason I am with, and very loyal to, Vodafone Australia. They have completely decoupled the purchase of the phone from the provision of mobile service. I myself am on a $40-for-$60-worth-of-charges-per-month plan while independantly paying off a T610 for around $20 per month over 2 years ($AU of course). This lets them advertise something like "The $60 plan with phone X included" to keep up with the other companies linked plans but giving me the flexability to choose what I like. I could change plans, or go to pre-paid or could have bought a more/less expensive phone and neither choice would effect the other. This is why no matter how good the deals from Optus or Telstra sound sometimes I wouldn't go near them. That and their weird charges (peak/off-peak..sort of off-peak..free time..upside down time...what-time-is-it-time...) where you have to look at your watch every time you make a call. With Vodafone my plan is $0.44/min every day all day, simple!

Btw, although I may sound like it I don't work for Vodafone, I've just moved from phone company to phone company for quite some time and this is the first time I've been satisfied (both landline and mobile) and they have AMAZINGLY good customer service... it's a bit bizzare actually.

Exactly the reason I am with, and very loyal to, Vodafone Australia. They have completely decoupled the purchase of the phone from the provision of mobile service. I myself am on a $40-for-$60-worth-of-charges-per-month plan while independantly paying off a T610 for around $20 per month over 2 years ($AU of course). This lets them advertise something like "The $60 plan with phone X included" to keep up with the other companies linked plans but giving me the flexability to choose what I like. I could change plans, or go to pre-paid or could have bought a more/less expensive phone and neither choice would effect the other. This is why no matter how good the deals from Optus or Telstra sound sometimes I wouldn't go near them. That and their weird charges (peak/off-peak..sort of off-peak..free time..upside down time...what-time-is-it-time...) where you have to look at your watch every time you make a call. With Vodafone my plan is $0.44/min every day all day, simple!

Btw, although I may sound like it I don't work for Vodafone, I've just moved from phone company to phone company for quite some time and this is the first time I've been satisfied (both landline and mobile) and they have AMAZINGLY good customer service... it's a bit bizzare actually.

Vodafone Australia apparently offers ICQ from phone functionality, they can afford it possibly because they have no customers.

It is rumored that Telstra will be offering free SMS next year, I have no idea if there is any truth to that. In any case it's no good to me because I'm with Optus.

But I agree, 20c, or rather 22c inc GST to send 200 bytes of data across the network is ridiculous, hardly "excellent value" as the telcos describe it. Imagine if your ISP charged with those rates!