IT giants are 'price gouging' in Australia

INTERNATIONAL IT firms Microsoft, Adobe and others were adding huge mark-ups to hardware and software sold to Australian consumers without justification, a report into alleged price gouging has found. 
 
The long-awaited report by a federal parliamentary committee into much steeper cost of hardware and software in Australia, compared with the US, found a 50 to 100 per cent difference in the prices Australians pay compared to their US counterparts.

The instances include online game platform Steam charging 200 to 300 per cent more in Australia than in the US.

"The evidence is that Australians pay higher prices and when we looked at the reasons behind that, we didn't find them to be compelling, so we've made recommendations for a more competitive and dynamic market place," committee chairman, Labor MP Nick Champion said.

To remedy the situation, the report recommends ways to make the local IT market more competitive. They revolve around relaxing restrictions on parallel imports of goods, so that hardware and software can be imported more cheaply and sold for less in competition to a manufacturer's "official" Australian price.

Importers already sell items such as phones and computers more cheaply than manufacturers do directly, but by lifting copyright restrictions, Australia could sanction the importing of cheaper sources of not only phones and computers, but also software, games and even movies in competition to local rights' owners.

The report also recommends the government investigate options for educating consumers and businesses about how to circumvent "geo-blocking": computer technology that shuts Australians out of bargains being offered by online stores to overseas consumers.

A ban on geo-blocking is recommended as a last resort.

It means giving consumers a green light to use virtual network services that, for a few dollars a month, fool overseas online stores into thinking they are in the US. Many consumers already use them, but the difference here is that they are encouraged to do so.

theaustralian.com.au 30 July 2013

Australia is literally one of the best places to get ripped off by the corporate giants.

The standard excuse is that it is the shipping costs.

Internet trading via online stores, can ship items world wide for free or single unit dollars.

Another farce supported by the giants.