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.

Comments

The real story?

[henbane]

I think what this really should have mentioned more prominently is the second story. Talk about imperialist running dogs of the capitalist pig regime. - "Hey there, want a trade agreement? Not unless you bow down and worship the god of copyright exactly like we do"

What business is it of theirs

[Trigun]

U.S. government is busy trying to get Australia to change its laws to increase the profits of U.S. record companies.

Let the record companies deal with it, not the government of another country.

Yeah, globalization is a bitch. Deal.

Being depressing

[PurpleWizard]

but not defeatist.

This is just a battle slowing the seemingly inevitable unless changes that are more fundamental are made. It is just part of the trend like DRM, software patents making it into Europe and the like...

What's the real solution to the continual move of power to corporations? Or is it best we all just roll over and take it like good domestic livestock?

The last comment in the post is telling.

[Hoplite3]

The WTO is supposed to support free trade and globalization. All sorts of countries are behind it, yet it hasn't bestirred itself to do anything about the most blantant anti-world market move ever made: region encoding on DVDs and videogames. Why can studios divide market? Why can't I buy Japanese games and play them in the US?

Well, I guess the answer is obvious. But it irks me that everyone bought into international trade organizations that are so clearly biased.

By the way, does this price-fixing crap remind anyone else of a similar US case? Did members of the industry get personally fined, or were they protected behind the corporate veil? Good thing Australia's got its act together. At least someone does.

I love a sunburnt country

[donscarletti]

The thing about Australia is that we have little to be patriotic with, our flag is unrecognisable to most of the world, our national anthem is unknown to most Australians, everyone seems to think our capital is Sydney, our soccer team can never make it to the world cup, Fosters is synonomous with us everywhere outside Austalia but is undrinkable to most Australians, our new submarines are noisy, Paul Hogan seems to be mistaken sometimes for a national ambasitor, our Prime Minister has the charisma of a block of wood, and one of the most popular politicians in recent history was just locked up for three years because she was too stupid to understand our electoral funding laws.

The only thing we have to be proud of is our judicial system, the guys who blocked the Gordon below Franklin damn even though blocking it was COMPLETELY unconstitutional it was just right, the guys who locked up Pauline Hanson, the guys who fined those record labels, the guys who don't give a DAMN about what the big guys say about what you can and can't do with your own stuff. They make me proud to be an Australian,

Even though in Australia it is unpatriotic to be patriotic (or at least you are judged to be a weeny if you are). It is times like this when I would like to press my hand to my chest, salute our crappy, halfarsely designed flag, scull my VB (not Fosters, YUCK!) and sing "Advance Australia Fair" at the top of my voice (even though it was written by white supremists, at least it is not about a suicidal sheep duffer).

Australia, please hit them harder.

[emil]

I am a U.S. Citizen, and I would like nothing more than to see all members of the RIAA and the MPAA dry up and blow away. I am certainly not alone in this view.

I look upon the recent financial woes of many of these corporations with schadenfreude - pleasure at the woes of another.

These organizations are making the US into a police state. They have orchistrated a coordinated attack upon our Bill of Rights, and they make a mockery of copyright law.

That they are suffering now is no great surprise. May it continue.

CDs are CHEAP (to manufacture) in Australia

[ahacop@wmuc.umd.edu]

I find it rather odd that imported CDs are cheaper in Australia.

I run an independent record label and I get my CDs manufactured in Australia precisely because it is CHEAPER for me to do so!

Free trade and parallel importation

[Hamster Lover]

"Mr Aldonis' comments came despite the US raising concerns about parallel importation legislation in its 2003 Foreign Trade Barriers report. Parallel importation permits the importation of a product by a person other than the local authorised distributor.

The US Trade Representative warned parallel importation had led to increasing piracy of DVDs and VCDs."

The US maintains that importing identical commerical copies of music or video from another country is equivalent to piracy? What balderdash.

To put this is perspective, if a company in China found a better deal on wheat in the Ukraine than what their "authorised distrubutor" of American wheat in China could offer them, then that company engaged in wheat piracy?

I am of the mistaken belief that free trade was meant to foster GLOBAL trade, not regional cartels.

Authorised Distributor is now another term for MONOPOLY. What a hypocrital nation the US has become.