“After research conducted by two Queensland academics ignited debate yesterday over whether Apple will be allowed to lock the iPhone to an exclusive carrier, legal experts have agreed that to do so might contravene regulations, but it will make little difference to the company or its chosen provider,” Marcus Browne reports for ZDNet Australia.
“According to the research, third-line forcing occurs when ‘company A sells product A on the condition that the purchaser also acquires product B from company B, or company A refuses to sell product A because the prospective purchaser would not agree to acquire product B from company B,'” Browne reports.
“‘Whether the iPhone supply breaches the third-line forcing prohibition depends quite a bit on how the device is sold,’ said Robert Neely, trade practices expert and partner at Sydney based law firm Henry Davis York,” Browne reports.
“Ayman Guirguis, partner at law firm Blake Dawson Waldron, told ZDNet.com.au that while third-line force is ‘automatically illegal’ under Australian trade practices law, it is a highly contentious issue, as many large companies engage in deals with consumers that could be construed as third-line force infringements,” Browne reports. “”The case in point would be petrol vouchers. If you shop with a certain supermarket, by spending a certain amount you’re entitled to four cents off a litre of petrol at the pump with its aligned supplier,’ said Guirguis. ‘It’s also extremely common within the telecommunications sphere where a customer is bound to a certain network based on the fact that the carrier incurs the initial cost of the phone itself.'”
Browne reports, “Blake Dawson Waldron’s Guirguis said that the necessary exception to avoid an infringement under the law is that Apple seek approval to lock the device from the ACCC in advance, as the authority has discretionary powers allowing it to weigh up whether the ‘public benefit of such a practice offsets the anti-competitive detriment,’ as is the case with supermarket fuel vouchers.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
It will really frost my already cold socks if Australia with 20 million people gets the iPhone before we Canadians with a population 50% larger. Can only blame the carriers here at home! Rogers, get with the plan! Jeesh!
” . . . before we Canadians with a population 50% larger.”
Is that from head to toe, around the middle or just certain parts?
Haven’t you been getting the emails, we obviously are not big enough in certain parts!
Internationalising the iPhone seems to be moving at a snail’s pace.
Are the carriers dragging their feet or doesApple demand too much?
I would have thought Canada would have been number two on the list, not trailing behind Europe and Oz.
Just a little below the belt for the males, and above the naval for the women Ampar!!
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just bring the damn phone out in more countries! apple, what takes you so long? ahh wait, maybe the carriers there don’t want to share their revenue and the numbers in europe are so low (is is simply too expensive) that offering the phone doesn’t look that comepelling anymore. here in germany t-mobile doesn’t even advertise the phone anymore. i think out of greed apple made a lot of bad business decisions whe they brought this amazing piece of technology to the market.
Thanks, joe! I was beginning to wander.
In the words of that kid from the Simpsons: “Hah hah!
And a slightly more intelligent followup on that would be: I don’t know, the ACCC and organizations like it are just so easily sucked into payoffs and what benefits the highest bidder – I don’t know… There certainly needs to be enforced regulations as MS has proven once again – but too much power in place is always a bad thing.
Ralph, you really have way to much time on your hands.
Oh, wait.. it doesn’t take any time to cut and paste the SAME STUPID SCREED into every iPhone thread. Please give it a rest. We KNOW you think Apple is greedy. We KNOW you’re tired of waiting for the iPhone to appear in every country. We KNOW already. Go find a cow to tip or something.
I will not rest until the good people of East Timor get the iPhone.
I wonder if maybe Apple is waiting to rollout the iphone in other countries for when they introduce 3G?
One way or the other if Apple does a deal with Telstra I’ll be boycotting the iphone. Telstra is the Microsoft of Telecommunications providers. Their service is mediocre at best, they treat customers like idiots (if your lucky) and in many circumstances are a monopoly player.
Like Microsoft Telstra has been found to be involved in uncompetitive practices time and time again. Apple is currently in talks with Telstra to become the sole provider of the iphone’s telephony services.
I said a couple of days ago, if Telstra is the provider of telephony etc. services for the iphone I’ll be boycotting the iphone…and I won’t be the only Australian user doing this.
” . . . for when they introduce 3G?”
Naaah. More likely, it’s a complicated mess of regulations, rate negotiations, politics and wrangling over exclusivity.
@ralph from berlin:
I hear ya bro’… although from a different perspective. Every cool new piece of software to integrate the Mac with a standard or smart phone (other than the iPhone), that comes out is from Europe and never ever, not even once, supports LG phones used on Verizon cellular networks. Yes I know there is BitPim which is barely better than nothing, and is definitely a far cry from the much more refined products developed specifically for the Mac. No one will address cellular users who literally have no choice for service outside of Verizon. So I feel your pain.
“Apple’s Aussie iPhone will still be locked to exclusive carrier”
It could be worse. It could be the USS Harry S. Truman.
Personally I hope if the iPhone is locked to one carrier here in Australia it is Telstra, because Optus and Vodafone have sweet f-a coverage out of the capital cities, especially here in Tassie. I don’t like Telstra any more than Walter, but my need for a working phone is more important than being a slave to my own ideals.
If Telstra have half a brain (debatable) they should be bending over backwards for Apple to give them a 3G/NextG iPhone. NextG’s current focus on over-expensive TV and VOD services and tiny tiny data packages is doing little to convince the market, especially while the current NextG network gives less coverage than the CDMA network it is suppose to be replacing. But get 20,000-100,000 NextG iPhones (an awful lot, though not exactly unrealistic, given Australia’s near-100% uptake of mobile telephony) running on $70+ a month unlimited data plans and I’m sure even Sol Truljio can do the math.
Either way, I have to get rid of this f**kin’ JasJam soon!
Petrol vouchers aren’t a very good analogy; they’re a sweetener that you don’t have to use. With the iPhone you have no choice.
Steven Jobs has been in Sydney this week (27/2/08) negotiating a deal with telco Optus for exclusive rights to sell the iPhone. Apparently Telstra (aka Telstra-soft) arent interested in sharing revenue with Apple on their contracts. From what I heard, Steve Jobs spent Tuesday 26th Feb on a boat on Sydney Harbour negotiating the deal with a number of people from Optus as well as high level delegates from MacQuarie Bank..
@ Mark
Whoa! That’s prettty gd /detailed info you got there, Mark! I hope you’re right though. That’d mean one more country down, and the iPhone getting “closer” to SE Asia!
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Woz in Sydney now,I think? as a keynote speaker on broadband in Australia and the region
Optus !!! iPhone me now, if not I’ll get it on ebay and Jailbreak it like me mates have.
I’ve been hanging out for the iPhone since its release in the US. I work in the technology sector and know who Steve Jobs is staying with in Sydney (an old director of mine). The deal with Optus isnt rubber stamped, currently in negotiations but I do hope something comes off. Should have more information by this time tomorrow.
Hmmm, if optus get it, it would be better than Telstra, but Optus has terrible coverage in some areas. At the end of the day both price and coverage are important to me, so that is where someone like 3 would be a better choice – although after recent dealings with customer services I understand why they are so cheap. Is there any phone company that has GOOD customer service, coverage AND price? Probably not…