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Australian Court Doubles CD Importers' Fines
anti-fsck writes "Australia's Full Federal Court today upheld a lower court's decision that music labels Warner Music and Universal Music had engaged in anti-competitive practices in the .au CD market by threatening retailers who imported cheaper CDs. The court also doubled the labels' fine - and the fines for senior label executives - to more than $A2 million. w00, cheap CDs at last? Now if we can only get US-zoned DVDs legalised as well ..." Another reader notes that the U.S. government is busy trying to get Australia to change its laws to increase the profits of U.S. record companies.
Second, although the Australian court decision is couched in the guise of "copyright law," it's no different in effect from protective tariffs or import taxes.
This raises the question why Australia didn't just enact an import tariff on compact discs equivalent to 100% of the price of an Australian-made CD.
"Obviously, I'm not an IBM computer any more than I'm an ashtray" (Bob Dylan)
IANAL, but executives can be held accountable, e.g. corporate manslaughter where AFAIK bosses can be held personally accountable for unsafe working conditions.
o rate_manslaug hter.htm
google'd:
http://www.mhcinternational.com/corp
CORPORATE MANSLAUGHTER
There is nothing new in the notion that industry and commerce have had hands in the deaths of customers, employees and their neighbours. Regardless of whether the reasons were driven by negligence or by incompetence, the net effect was that next to never were companies or their top managers held accountable by the courts.
Changes may well be on the way. The UK Government (May 2000) is now in consultation about the size and shape of corporate manslaughter or corporate killing charges. Prospectively unlimited fines are in view. There may be prison sentences for culpable directors. And the field of vision will cover all enterprises, to include public sector organizations, rather than the private sector only.
Enactment of legislation will take many months. The implications are clear even now. In addition to the moral responsibility which ought always to have been present, there are legal, cost and reputation reasons why managers should take action.
'Turnbull' requirements are already focussing attention on internal controls within the organization. Social audit and social reporting skills are increasingly needed by top managers. Above all, organizations will do well to look again at their values and their codes of conduct, whilst making sure that the needed educational processes are in place and working.
Americans only like free markets and capitalism when it works in their favor. When it doesn't, they enjoy getting their government meddling with tolls and taxes and what not.
They still have steel-tolls, right?
They're not capitalist, they're as socialist as the rest of us (in Europe) -- it's just that they're either too stupid to see it, or in denial.
Is it me or is the U.S. the ONLY country not "Beating Back" the abusiveness of it's own corporations and government. (This should get me tag as a terrorist by saying this, in a country were supposedly we have a 1st amendment right to freedom of speech!).
Yes I do live in the U.S., yes I do think it is corrupt from the top levels of our goverment down to the corporations.
It seems just about every other country in the world is smacking the U.S. corporations that are trying to screw everyone, but for some strange reason WE CAN'T!
Look what kind of crap we are having to fight:
1) SCO - 'nuff said!
2) MPAA/RIAA - take away our rights to fair use, and to mayn other things to list.
3) Our Goverment - Took away our 4th amendment with the Patiriot act and allow law enforcement agencies free reign in what they do. All in the name of "terrorism".
What they don't want you to know is that our damn goverment KNEW about 911 on August 20th. THe Israil (sp?) Massad warned our governemt about a terrorist threat and of massive amounts of terrorists (about 200 I belive) comming into this country. There was even an article about it in the Jeruselum Post's website not long after 911. (Any of our Israli brothers want to confirm this?)
That's right your own government let it happen, why you say??? Think about what they have been able to do with that "terrorist threat" that they are using to try and scare us with. The patriot act, now talk of the patriot act II. Patriot Act - that is a damn slap in the face to the TRUE patriots that gave their lives for this country to be what it is today! I being former military am ASHAMED of our government right now!
The Truth is a Virus!!!
Who'd have thought? CDs honor the traditional price elacticity of demand for commodity goods: don't rip off your punters and they'll buy your product.
5 8767.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/31
Well, the US gov. is there to do anything possible to advantage the US citizens who vote for this gov...
If there is more money for American companies then there is more wealth for the U.S.
Since the U.S. makes their laws the laws of the whole world, the whole world should be allowed to vote in the U.S.
Definately - screw them for everything they're worth - they've been doing it to the rest of the planet (esp. the US) for years. All the real music is on independent label anyway....
The heat from below can burn your eyes out
2 gouge consumers
3 coerce competitors
4 ???
5 coerce governments
6 PROFIT!!!!
Subverting governments is a typically anglo-saxon way of doing "business". In the late 1700's, a britshit brewer named Molson moved into newly-conquered France, and upon seeing that the cider-drinking french natives were eschewing his beet, simply had the governor outlaw cider-making.
Being too stupid to adapt to the market by making cider, he had the market adapt to him.
200 years later, his beer still tastes like horse-piss.
In my opinion, a thriving gray market -- where consumers seek out cheaper products/services in other districts/countries -- is evidence of a healthy, competitive global economy.
Sincerely,
Vergil
Insects and Grafitti Photos
Did you read the article? Thought not.
Under heavy lobbying from the US entertainment and software industries, the Office of the US Trade Representative had listed the harmonisation of copyright legislation among issues to be raised with Australian negotiators for the Free Trade Agreement. But the head of the US Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration, Undersecretary Grant Aldonas, said America would not be pushing too hard on intellectual property during the current negotiations.
... doesn't the US harmonise with OUR laws? WTF! Take your stinking economic imperialism and shove it up your arse.
Hardly.
More expensive CDs to pay for the fine, I'd have thought.
I say, if it weren't for Australian justice and anti-trust regulations, those two corporations would still be ripping off consumers. Yet, most of our countries are engaged in WTO negotiations which compell countries to get rid of those "embarrassing regulations" in the name of so-called "competition" and "fairness". I'm not saying we need more regulations; just that the existing ones need to be upheld.
Do you see where "competition" stands when corporations agree on pricing to rip off their consumers? What about "fairness" if the existing regulations are cancelled ?
(Robot slams door open:)
IP droid: `By using the words "fairness" and "competition", you just infringed on Trademark #AE6521 by corporation SueMyAss Inc. We'll see you in court, sir.'
In Soviet Russia, our new overlords are belong to all your base.
It's just juvenile (like any revenge is) to go after individuals and ruin their lives just because their employees were less than honest.
Did you see what the Samba team said about SCO? They said that they stand behind the meaning of free software, even when it hurts (==is used by SCO)
This is my point; the Samba team says one thing and they mean it -- they have principles and they obey them -- while the US says one thing and then go on and show that they don't really mean it at all. If "you" truly believe in capitalism and a free market, why can't you stand up for its principles? Show the world that it's right?
The US government is helping US companies all over the world, including pressuring political change in a country just so that the mass media, food- or IT industries can cut new markets.
[fx: reads downthread] Oh dear... The problem here is that different people see different things when they read. When you or I read 'socialist', we see someone who wants the community as a whole owning and controlling industry, and the social and political organisation that goes along with it. Or something along those lines.
But when many Yanks read 'socialist', they seem to see "Filthy! Subversive! Pinko! Dirty! Commie! Bastard! Atheist! Traitor! Die! Die! Die!" instead. Which kind of makes informed political debate rather difficult.
Ceterum censeo subscriptionem esse delendam.
Everyone seems to act like the US is the only government that tries to protect its business interests, but all governments do...Look no further than France/Russia's real motives for supporting Iraq all these years
Of course, governments pursue thir own interests, and those of their citizens. Most of the time, that's a reasonable way to act. The annoying thing about the US government, is that it expects everyone else to act to further US interests, and seems surprised and offended when they don't.
Americans only like free markets and capitalism when it works in their favor.
The fact is some of us yanks like to see the these goons get sorted out. There's stuff that costs absurd amounts, or you can't even get in the US, thanks to restrictions on importing bought to us by the very same sphere of influence. They like to get money whether things are coming or going.
Some people like to refer to them as F.O.B. (friends of Bush), but they actually manage to get strings pulled their way no matter who the Prez is.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
the steel tariffs were put in place because the rest of the world heavily subsidizes their steel industry
Yeah, just like the tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber, right?
You know, the ones that are illegal under NAFTA.
The softwood lumber that the WTO said was NOT being subsidized..
Yeah right. It's the private property of the government, not you. If the people really were the government in Britain, Britain probably would not have gone into Iraq. Face it, your "we are the democracy, we are the government" bullshit is nothing more than wishful thinking.
Click here or a puppy gets stomped!
Given that the Australian Federal government has a long record of rolling over to corporate interests, I can't see them upholding the rights of the man in the street, somehow.
Pretty well summed up by that nice quote from Maynard Keynes to the effect that "capitalism is the absurd belief that the worst of men, for the worst of reasons, will somehow work for the benefit of us all".