First World Problem Solution Alert! Finally comes the chance of government-sanctioned respite from the inexplicably and unreasonably noncompetitive Australian prices for Apple, Microsoft and Adobe products! Representatives from these major players in the information technology consumer market will face a federal parliamentary committee today to investigate why the heck the prices are set so high – irrespective of the Aussie Dollar’s international currency value – because it isn’t fair and we want cheaper prices now, Daddy.
The inquiry, led by chairman Nick Champion, is investigating why discrepancies between the prices charged for digitally downloaded software, computer games, music, movies, and e-books exist. Take for example Justin Timberlake’s new album is priced at $10.99 for the entire album or $1.29 per track at the US iTunes Store, versus the Australian prices which are $19.99 and $2.19 respectively. According to the rules of Internet Democracy (and the current conversion rate) 19.99 AUD = 20.04 USD which means Australians are paying almost twice that of our Timberlake-loving counterparts in America.
ABC News reports that the three companies had earlier refused to appear before the committee, but have been warned if they fail to turn up, they could be held in contempt of Parliament which carries a range of possible penalties including fines or jail time.
We’ll provide a progress update on the investigation following today’s committee hearing, but let’s just say if there’s anyone we trust with this desperately important case of nuh uh no fair it’s a dude with the surname ‘Champion’.
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Photo by Justin Sullivan for Getty Images
