Aussie consumer laws to improve!!

[Aractus]

Harper Review recommendation 31: Price discrimination

A specific prohibition on price discrimination should not be reintroduced into the CCA. Where price discrimination has an anti‑competitive impact on markets, it can be dealt with by the existing provisions of the law (including through the Panel’s recommended revisions to section 46 (see Recommendation 30)).

Attempts to prohibit international price discrimination should not be introduced into the CCA on account of significant implementation and enforcement complexities and the risk of negative unintended consequences. Instead, the Panel supports moves to address international price discrimination through market solutions that empower consumers. These include removing restrictions on parallel imports (see Recommendation 13) and ensuring that consumers are able to take lawful steps to circumvent attempts to prevent their access to cheaper legitimate goods.

 
The Government supports this recommendation and agrees that a specific prohibition on price discrimination should not be reintroduced.
The Government will remove parallel import restrictions on books in line with its response to Recommendation 13 and will consult further on options to strengthen section 46 (see response to Recommendation 30).

Harper Review recommendation 13: Parallel imports

Restrictions on parallel imports should be removed unless it can be shown that:

•       the benefits of the restrictions to the community as a whole outweigh the costs; and

•       the objectives of the restrictions can only be achieved by restricting competition.

Consistent with the recommendations of recent Productivity Commission reviews, parallel import restrictions on books and second‑hand cars should be removed, subject to transitional arrangements as recommended by the Productivity Commission.

Remaining provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 that restrict parallel imports, and the parallel importation defence under the Trade Marks Act 1995, should be reviewed by an independent body, such as the Productivity Commission.

                                                                                                                                   
The Government supports in part this recommendation.
The Government supports the removal of parallel import restrictions on books. The Government will progress this recommendation following the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into Australia’s intellectual property arrangements (see Recommendations 6 above) and consultations with the sector on transitional arrangements.
The terms of reference for the inquiry provide that the Productivity Commission is to have regard to the findings and recommendations of the Harper Review in the context of the Government’s response, including recommendations related to parallel import restrictions in the Copyright Act 1968 and the parallel importation defence under the Trade Marks Act 1995.
Following consultation as part of the review of the Motor Vehicles Standards Act 1989 and having regard to consumer protection and community safety concerns, the Government has decided not to proceed with reducing parallel import restrictions on second‑hand cars at this time.

Competition Policy Review Response released 24/Nov/2015.

That's a great FUCK YOU to the BBC who claimed, as I've said before, that VPNs are "IP obfuscation tools used by Australians to circumvent geo-blocking technologies" and that it is "reasonable to expect that ISPs monitor VPN usage" and "assume that people who are 'heavy users of IP obfuscation tools' are using them to infringe the BBC's copyright", and that "customers caught using them should have their internet slowed or disconnected in the 'most serious' cases".

And a HUGE step in the right direction. It means the Government SUPPORTS the rights of consumers to use VPNs to access content that is geo-blocked by "ensuring that consumers are able to take lawful steps to circumvent attempts to prevent their access to cheaper legitimate goods".

[dyresand]

In other words this is relevant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl9xjpJ-ChU