Briefly: Greens on price gouging, SLI Systems loss

Thursday, 29 August 2013, 5:05 pm
Column: Bill Bennett

Price gouging raises its ugly head again after a Green Party survey showing New Zealanders pay on average 40 percent more than Americans for software and hardware products.

There’s not much governments can do about price-gouging other than naming and shaming the guilty parties. That might not seem like much, but shining a light can have positive effects. Following revelations made during Microsoft’s submission to the Australian parliamentary price gouging inquiry earlier this year, that country negotiated a A$100 million a year reduction in software licence fees.

• The prospectus for recently-listed software-as-a-service provider SLI Systems anticipated a loss this financial year. In the event the company came in $150,000 ahead of forecast.
• Microsoft plans to boost Skydrive Pro storage for Office 365 and Sharepoint users to 25GB. There are also new apps for the business-focused cloud storage service.
• Red faces at SAP Australia and Fujitsu as another huge project falls over: the asset management system for the government of Australia’s Northern Territory.

Related posts:
1. Briefly: Ballmer quits, telcos support Tics, GCSB warnings, Wynyard wins Queensland Rail
2. Briefly: Windows 8.1 ready, 2degrees new boss, 7 inch Toughpad
3. Vodafone soft-launches ultrafast broadband
4. HP, SAP join for big data clouds

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Bill Bennett

Freelance journalist.

Auckland-based Bill Bennett writes technology and business stories that are directly relevant to New Zealand readers.

His emphasis is on telecommunications, but he also covers other aspects of technology and business. You can find his features in the New Zealand Herald and hear him regularly on RNZ Nine to Noon and the NZ Tech Podcast.

Bennett's The Download Weekly newsletter is published every Friday. You can sign up for it here. If you want to support his work, you can make a donation to his PressPatron account.

Contact Bill Bennett

• Website - billbennett.co.nz
• Linkedin
• Email - bill@billbennett.co.nz
• Mobile - 0275082740