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Australians Urged To Spoof IP Addresses For Better Prices

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the won't-somebody-please-think-of-the-savings? dept.

angry tapir writes "Choice, a prominent Australian consumer advocacy group, has urged Australians to obfuscate their IP address to avoid geo-blocking and use US forwarding addresses to beat high IT prices. Australia is currently in the middle of parliamentary inquiry into the country's disproportionately high prices for technology. Choice also suggested setting up US iTunes accounts and using surrogate US addresses for forwarding packages from American stores. Choice has noted previously that Australians pay 52 per cent more for digital music downloads on iTunes compared to US users."

5 of 206 comments (clear)

  1. Legacy of Regional Pricing by StoneyMahoney · · Score: 5, Informative

    Regional differences in pricing stem from pre-globalisation economics. With no overlap between regional markets, prices would be set on a per-market basis and never the twain did meet. In a post-globalisation Internet-levelled playing field, regional price differences make no little sense for purely-digital products, except where national sales-related taxes differ. The only reason to maintain these regional price variations to artificially inflate profit margins at the expense of the consumer.

    In theory, the libertarian free-marker doctrine should cause this price difference to level out fairly quickly once the market starts to take advantage of (and offense to) these cross-border variations. Let's see if that theory works in practice...

    Anyone want to bet on legislation increasing to prevent cross-region sales instead?

  2. Re:Good riddance to geo-blocking by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Informative

    BluRay drive for the computer. anyDVD and handbrake. It strips out the region locking and the useless DRM to allow you to create a file that can play on a media center or right there on your laptop/desktop

    Rip out their DRM.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  3. Very important by David+Gerard · · Score: 4, Informative

    Choice is really highly respected in Australia. This makes this an extremely mainstream issue, not just of geek interest.

    --
    http://rocknerd.co.uk
  4. Re:It's not just games by ozmanjusri · · Score: 4, Informative

    How much jet fuel does it take to ship a Technet subscription?

    Microsoft charges $599 in the US compared to $1048 in AU.

    http://i.imgur.com/qQNn4.png

    --
    "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
  5. Re:Tor and using a specific exit node (and SSL!) by green1 · · Score: 4, Informative

    So how do you explain a country where the dollar has been at par with the US dollar (or within a few cents) for almost 10 years now, and yet all prices are close to 50% higher (not Australia, Canada) e.books cost more, mp3s cost more, physical products cost more.
    There's only one justification, and it is greed.