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Australian Government Releases Report Into IT Price Fixing
elphie007 writes "Fourteen months after the Australian Parliament announced an inquiry into the disparity between IT pricing for Australian consumers, the Committee's final report has been published. The report highlights the importance of IT in Australia, and that Australian consumers are frequently shafted in an uncomfortable manner when it comes to purchasing IT goods and services. With recommendations ranging from the removal of parallel importation restrictions to the possible banning of geo-blocking services, could this mean the end of US bound Adobe shopping trips and the beginning of pricing equality for Australian IT consumers? More reports/analysis is available here and here."
Adding restrictions on imports deliberately removes Australia from global pricing from software and sets it up as a segmented market, so it's not a huge surprise that companies like Adobe then set prices within the segmented market differently, to optimize profits in that market.
You'd probably see it in the U.S., too, if it were possible to have segmented pricing between states: Adobe would charge higher prices in CA and NY.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Amusing, but it is absolutely ridiculous that if you want to buy 3 copies of Adobe Creative Suite in Australia, it's cheaper to fly to the US and buy them there, then fly straight back. And that's just one example, there's even the Steam Ripoffs site to show how much we get shafted for games.
... wait, what?
Software was removed from parallel importing restrictions in the Copyright Amendment (Parallel Importation) Bill of 2001. It can't be used as an excuse to price gouge..
Why is a government interfering with private entities' ability to price things differently in different countries?
Because dem entities are trying to use the government's laws to sue people over importing the products from other countries where it's cheaper.
No sig today...
It's obvious what the price difference is. It's really expensive for Adobe to have a support call center that's fluent in Australian.
Take that all you people that think Australia being founded by a bunch of criminals was a bad thing :P
4 Copyright, circumvention, competition, and remedies
Recommendation 4 The Committee recommends that the parallel importation restrictions still found in the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) be lifted, and that the parallel importation defence in the Trade Marks Act 1995 (Cth) be reviewed and xiii broadened to ensure it is effective in allowing the importation of genuine goods.
Recommendation 5 The Committee recommends that the Australian Government amend the Copyright Act’s section 10(1) anti-circumvention provisions to clarify and secure consumers’ rights to circumvent technological protection measures that control geographic market segmentation.
Recommendation 6 The Committee further recommends that the Australian Government investigate options to educate Australian consumers and businesses as to:
Recommendation 7 The Committee recommends that the Australian Government, in conjunction with relevant agencies, consider the creation of a ‘right of resale’ in relation to digitally distributed content, and clarification of ‘fair use’ rights for consumers, businesses, and educational institutions, including restrictions on vendors’ ability to ‘lock’ digital content into a particular ecosystem.
Recommendation 8 The Committee recommends the repeal of section 51(3) of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.
Recommendation 9 The Committee recommends that the Australian Government consider enacting a ban on geoblocking as an option of last resort, should persistent market failure exist in spite of the changes to the Competition and Consumer Act and the Copyright Act recommended in this report.
Recommendation 10 That the Australian Government investigate the feasibility of amending the Competition and Consumer Act so that contracts or terms of service which seek to enforce geoblocking are considered void.
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This happens in a lot of places, not just Australia. In Canada, Microsoft often charges more for licenses. However, if you try to order stuff through Amazon.com, they will say that they don't ship the item to Canada. Even though they will ship just about everything else, as long as you pay the shipping charges.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
The banning of geo blocking would be a great step in the right direction. Stop companies from redirecting us to the Australian store when we specifically put in the url for the overseas counterpart for example steam. If I want to buy from steam US without using a vpn (which is against steam policy if I used a vpn) then I should be able to instead of being forced back to the Australian site. Steam saying that I have to buy from the aussie steam store because some games are banned or censored does not hold water when it is only not illegal for an australian to buy rc goods overseas for personal consumption. Prices differences between the US steam store and the Aussie one can be quite drastic too. Outlaw this too.
Call of Duty 2
Aussie steam store: $89.99
US steam store in equivalent aussie dollars $19.99
UK steam store in equivalent aussie dollars $30.72
Civ V
Aussie steam store: $69.99
US steam store in equivalent aussie dollars $29.99
UK steam store in equivalent aussie dollars $30.72
Dishonoured
Aussie steam store: $44.99
US steam store in equivalent aussie dollars $29.99
UK steam store in equivalent aussie dollars $23.04
Dead Island Riptide
Aussie steam store: $69.99
US steam store in equivalent aussie dollars $39.99
UK steam store in equivalent aussie dollars $53.78
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified
Aussie steam store: $71.99
US steam store in equivalent aussie dollars $44.99
UK steam store in equivalent aussie dollars $41.48
Same thing with region-based DVDs and Blu-rays. Through the wonders of modern technology, the idea of "location" and "region" are mostly obsolete, at least as far as shipping and logistics is concerned -- especially for goods that are mostly information instead of physical things. But for all of the profit opportunities that this affords the powers-that-be, by its very nature this brave new logistics world also obsoletes certain profit centers that used to exist in the old system.
So what do they do? Best of both! "You know, it no longer costs us more to actually get the things to you, which means that all of that extra money we charge the Aussies, which used to go to shipping and distribution costs, is pure profit for us!"
Classical economics would say "the market will solve."
Why hasn't it? (This is an honest question.)
It is possible. US companies just don't do it that much for SW and computer hardware or other stuff that's easily shipped because the competition won't play ball. But when it comes to haircuts or movie tickets, location has a big effect on price.
As an Australian citizen, I easily get around the price gouging attempts by American companies like Microsoft, Adobe and Apple.
I do it by running Kubuntu on my laptop and desktop, and Android on my tablet and phone. My every single household IT need is thereby elegantly met for zero cost to me. LibreOffice 4.1 running under Kubuntu is great! Digikam is the bees knees for my digital photos! Krita is the best-of-breed for creating raster graphics art (Inkscape for vector graphics, Blender for 3D graphics). Clementine plays all my music just fine and syncs with my non-Apple media player, tablet and phone, and VLC shows my videos (of any format) with aplomb.
I can buy *ALL* my hardware (phone, tablet, laptop and desktop, the latter two without any OS pre-installed) for less than the blowout cost of one package of commercial software from Microsoft or Adobe.
Problem solved! (cracks open a Fosters)
Haha, nice try mate, but we Aussies don't actually drink that crap!
It isn't that ridiculous. Capitalism is all about maximizing profit.
No, it is ridiculous and capitalism isn't all about maximizing profits. Capitalism relies heavily on competition, if there is no competition the system breaks down.
In this case competition is hindered by copyright laws, an entity that thinks that they can distribute the software cheaper to Australia (Transport the bits for a cost that is marginal compared to the retail price in other regions.) is not allowed to do so.
This is a prime example of when capitalism isn't allowed to work properly.
In a the magical free market the profits are meant to be squeezed down by healthy competition. In this case the only competition is importing from the USA, losing all consumer protections granted under Australian laws.
As everyone here knows, there is no such thing as a free market. When there is a distribution network filled with exclusivity contracts that prevents parallel imports and DRM that makes your licensed software deactivate itself when they discover your an Aussie you can't call that a success of capitalism.
And for "willing to pay more". It's not like deciding between a $5 HDMI cable and a $120 one where the consumer made a choice to pay more. There is only one company that makes this particular movie, game or software.
How can one be willing to pay more for a necessity in the case of MS Windows/Office. This makes as much sense as people willing to pay $5 per litre for petrol if the oil companies so wished.
Unicode in Slashdot
Why has the market not solved it?
Because there is no free market at work here. "Intellectual property law" prevents it.
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Friends don't let friends enable ecmascript.
are frequently shafted in an uncomfortable manner
A little foreplay goes a long way... ;)
Piracy says no we aren't willing... government can do whatever the fuck they like within our local market.
I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.
of course, they could just take advantage of that same simplified shipping and logistics to open the film at the same time everywhere. It's not like the old days when they had to actually make a new (expensive) print and ship it (bulky and heavy too).
Because as soon as you try to make a commercial clone of Adobe's product they start suing you for random patents, trademarks, look and feel, etc. even though you clearly wrote it from scratch.
Imagine if only one company was allowed to make a common hand operated can opener and anyone else who wanted to produce a 'metal container opening device' (can't call it a 'can opener' tm, pat. pend.) would have to come up with something that looks like a hack saw or perhaps involves a CO2 laser to get around IP laws.
LibreOffice wasn't even a twinkle in a developer's eye in 1997, so I'm not sure what you're going on about.
I happen to use LibreOffice every day at work without issue.
Time to rise, sleepy-head.
I use Libreoffice at work, regularly editing word and excel documents. You had me worried for a sec, thinking all my work over the last few years hadn't been saved properly. I checked, and thankfully, they're all good. Phew!
It isn't that ridiculous. Capitalism is all about maximizing profit.
This part is correct.
I'll fix the rest for you.
If Australians can be forced to pay 50% more for a product that cant be purchased from anywhere but the supplier and their chosen distributor
Thanks to US copyright treaties, we dont get a choice about software. We aren't willing to pay extra, we're forced to by the fact we have no alternative.
But as predicted, this inquest was as powerful as a fart in a cyclone. Their recommendation was for businesses to attempt to circumvent GeoIP blocks, what business has time or the knoweledge to do that. Microsofts, Adobes, et al distribution channels are still protected and their prices are unaffected.
What import laws do you speak of.
We have some of the most lopsided free trade agreements in the world. We can import almost anything from the US, China or Thailand without duties with a few big exceptions like Alcohol and Tobacco. Hell, for personal imports under A$900, we dont even have to pay GST (sales tax) on the item. Oh and GST (Goods and Services Tax) is only 10%, so this doesn't account for a 50% price discrepancy.
Kindly learn about Australia, before spouting crap about Australia.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Adding restrictions on imports deliberately removes Australia from global pricing from software and sets it up as a segmented market
What restrictions?
Who modded this tripe up.
Australia has no restrictions on importing software. This is why I can buy games in the UK and have them shipped over. This is why dropshippers exist, this is why I bought my camera from Hong Kong and had it shipped to Oz. The laws on restricting imports are only for very specific things like Alcohol, Tobacco and Food (Dutiable goods, prohibited goods and dangerous goods in legalese). Software is not dutiable, prohibited or dangerous, therefore not restricted.
The problem is that the software distributors have segmented Australia. I cant get a copy of Windows from anyone else but Microsoft (Erm, a legit copy). MS chose to charge me 50% more, I didn't force MS to charge me more and we dont have a choice thanks to IP/Copyright laws that were foisted on us by a series of lop sided "free" trade agreements between Australia and the US.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.