In the meantime, just in case there was any doubt that this is anything other than greed,"A federal parliamentary committee has recommended that consumers find ways to lawfully evade technology that allows IT companies to charge up to twice as much for their products in Australia."
Some snippets:
Quote:The Committee found Australians paid 42 per cent more, on average, for Adobe software such as Photoshop.
Microsoft products were 66 per cent more on average, while specialised 3D animation software was more than 50 per cent more expensive.
In addition, hardware, music, games and e-books all cost more in Australia than they do in places such as the United States.
Microsoft, Apple and Adobe each gave evidence to the committee as to why their goods were more expensive in Australia than other markets, but declined to comment on the committee's findings.
Quote:The committee's chairman, Nick Champion, said geo-blocking was unfair when used to segregate global markets in order to make bigger profits, and pointed to "significant impacts" on Australian consumers and businesses.
Quote:Just getting three of the tech industry's heavyweights to the parliamentary inquiry was a feat in itself. Adobe, Apple and Microsoft were all invited to attend the inquiry's earlier public hearings voluntarily.
In the end it took a summons to compel the companies to appear. Each had a different reason to explain the pricing disparities.
And in the link is a link to 10 recommendations, which include:
Quote:Recommendation 5
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government amend the Copyright ActGÇÖs section 10(1) anti-circumvention provisions to clarify and secure consumersGÇÖ rights to circumvent technological protection measures that control geographic market segmentation.
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.
Now, I ask you: if a company has the gall to charge me more purely because I'm from a different country, why should I give them any respect? I can tell you that I will give them no respect, and that will translate into money lost. Is this really the sort of behaviour that CCP wants to be complicit with?