Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Clare Curran attacks tech price gougers
At Stuff Tom Pullar-Strecker speaks to Labour IT spokesperson Clare Curran about the government's half-hearted investigation into technology price gouging in MP claims IT report falls short.
He quotes
Curran:
"It appears the ministry has not done what it was asked to do. It shows there is either a disregard for the committee's wishes, or they are being given instructions from higher up."
Technology price gouging is a big deal in Australia where the government called in representatives from major international companies and asked them to justify higher prices to a Parliamentary inquiry.
If anything New Zealander get a worse deal from the multinationals than Australians. A Green Party survey shows we typically pay 40 percent more than Americans for the same goods and services.
Sadly there's not much governments can do about price gouging that wouldn't have repercussions.
On the other hand, getting the subject out in the open and talking about it is a positive move. At least the spectacle of watching the US giants foot drag, then clumsily fail to justify high prices means Australians are no longer under any illusions they are treated fairly by these companies.
And the transparency brings other benefits. Australian managed to shave A$100 million from Microsoft software licensing fees after the company was dragged into the inquiry.
If New Zealand's government could wrest similar concessions from the industry, that would be a start.
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.
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