Companies not cooperating with Australian IT Pricing Inquiry to be subpoenaed
By Tim Colwill on October 29, 2012 at 7:18 pm
Today is the day the long-awaited IT Pricing Inquiry handed down its findings to Parliament, and those findings were clear: we are being screwed.
IT companies are “reluctant” to discuss their pricing, “even after direct request”, reported Paul Neville, Deputy Chair on the Inquiry’s Committee.
“We’re not going to accept that and we expect a better level of commitment from the industry.”
The Committee has the power of subpoena to compel companies to explain themselves, and Neville expressed his belief that they would be exercising it in the near future. Describing artificially-inflated AU prices and geoblocking as “unacceptable”, Neville claims it was time to take a firm stand on pricing disparity. Hopefully we’ll see some results — or at least some spectacular court drama — sooner rather than later.
Source: Kotaku AU (thanks, PalZer0)
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Good start, nothing pisses me off more then this and you’ll usually find me on the Steam forums calling out this Bull**** where-ever it exists whilst posting links all over the place to fairer deals like GreenManGaming and Gamersgate.
I did not expect a ‘we are going to hammer down on..’. That said, unless someone in power can actually force companies to change their pricing, not much is going to change just yet. Still, if it becomes public fact we are being screwed for no reason apart from filling their pockets, things might change.
If my negro neighbor in 1934 was charged $3.25 for his milk versus my $2 every morning, for simply being black, I’d sure be angry.
ha ha ha not suprised
excellent news!
EA, 2K and Activision are especially going to have to explain themselves for their price jacking on DLC. Hopefully this subpoena power is actually exercised.
Wow that’s awesome! Stick it to them.
This sounds good, plus I have a new word for my vocab. Can’t say that GON don’t teach anything :P
Couldn’t this come back to bite us in the a** ? For example: Company A is forced to lower prices of their products in Australia so they take us off the release list and with hold products from the country.
We’ve seen before that some developers have removed countries from their list of release sites.
Possible, but the whole point of price gouging is to make an exorbitant amount of profit from Australian customers, rather than just a ‘satisfactory’ profit. I mean they’re not going to give up, say, a 200% profit just because they’re no longer allowed to squeeze a 400% profit.
^^ You certainly wont be seeing EA or Activision doing something like that.
“Goodbye money” – It just can’t happen.
Yeh…………..heard all that BS B4………….nothing ever happens……………..lets see some action not just stories about somone thinking they might do something about it
I wrote something for this IT inquiry but I focused instead of Windows costing double in Australia especially digital downloads, but my points raised can easily include software and game digital and physical sales in Australia as well. A digital download should cost no more no matter where you are connecting from.
Thankfully we are in the digital distribution era so this really isn’t something to be worried about.
Most of the problem doesn’t even stem from publishers/developers. It comes from the EB/Gamestop stranglehold on the retail market depending publishers sell their titles here for the same extorted price online they do. That said, some publishers are taking advantage of the situation, especially in recent times.
I’d like to see this Committee action have some positive results but I remain to be convinced they will follow through on it.
Bah I meant “demanding”. We really should be able to edit comments.
iiimystiii,
Being in the digital distribution era makes no difference. They could simply just place region blocking on steam or other digital download methods, but again it isn’t hard to just use a VPN.
However the IT savvy never pay full retail price. It’s just the normal people getting screwed, as usual…
Thank christ something is actually being done about this.
Never EVER pay retail, your just encouraging them. SO much cheaper elsewhere, CD key sites etc. It’s simple, THAT’S how we win.
palzer0,
As far as I know 2K, Activision and EA’s DLC pricing is the same as that of the US’. These guys are combating artificial Aussie inflation and that DLC isn’t included.