Australian Government Releases Report Into IT Price Fixing 125
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."
removing parallel-import restrictions is obvious (Score:4, Interesting)
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.
Steam (Score:5, Interesting)
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
Re:Logistics (Score:4, Interesting)
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.)