ACCC hauls Optus into Federal Court

By on 29 July 2009 in advertising, Trade Practices Act

phone-cardIn the latest action in its war on trade practices non-compliance in the telco sector, ACCC has taken Federal Court action against a wholly owned subsidiary of Optus Mobile Pty Ltd.

Prepaid Services Pty Ltd supplies phone cards that are resold by an independent company Boost Tel Pty Ltd. 

ACCC alleges that Prepaid and Boost were involved in false advertising.

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Component pricing seminar notes available

By on 21 July 2009 in advertising, New laws, Trade Practices Act

funnytel-2-smallSeminar notes from today’s popular ‘Component Pricing Law’ seminar at Logie-Smith Lanyon Lawyers are now available for download.

Delivered in our trademark style … plain english guaranteed … the seminar offered practical and expert insights into living harmoniously with the new trade practices law.

We’ll offer a repeat session soon … keep watching.

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FunnyTel introduces unit pricing in new mega-value FAT plans

By on 18 July 2009 in advertising, Funnytel, iiNet Case, Trade Practices Act

1180827_double_cheeseburgerComms industry leader FunnyTel today announced its ground-breaking FAT plans. 

No stranger to innovation – FunnyTel was Australia’s first ISP to introduce the random number billing that has since proved so popular with Telstra management – the FAT plans include Australia’s first internet unit pricing scheme.

‘We read about the Government’s idea for unit pricing with groceries,’ says FunnyTel spokesman Chad Blake.  ‘And we thought “This makes sense.”  Why should customers pay for an 80 gigs download allowance and not know exactly how many P2P movies they’ll get for their dough ?’

‘We’re actually thinking of applying to the ACCC for an award for this,’ said Blake.  ‘Our 2 New Hollywood Releases a Night’ plan is a revolution in truth-in-advertising.  ‘And that’s A-FACT !’ says Blake with a cheeky wink.

We asked Chad if he thought that other market leaders like iiNet would adopt the system. 
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Consumer Bill’s bonkers bit

By on 28 June 2009 in New laws, Trade Practices Act

960307_crazy_facesThere’s an element in the proposed national unfair contract terms law that:

It makes no sense.  It’s bananas.  And the Explanatory Memorandum that accompanies the Bill admits as much.

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National consumer law Bill hits Parliament

By on 27 June 2009 in advertising, New laws, Trade Practices Act

accc-kickOn 24 June 2009, the Government introduced the Australian Consumer Law Bill into Parliament.  It represents the biggest shake up of Australian consumer law in a long time.

From 1 January 2010, the Government intends that we’ll have a national unfair contract terms law.  ACCC will have power to demand that advertisers positively substantiate any claims they make.  And there’ll be new penalties, enforcement powers and options for compensating consumers.

Stay tuned to CSP Central for plenty of news and expert commentary about the new law.  We already have some detailed comments on one misconceived part of the drafting.

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Component pricing law seminar announced

By on 25 June 2009 in advertising, New laws, Trade Practices Act

plain-english-2-midOn 21 July 2009 CSP Central contributors Victor Ng and Peter Moon will be conducting a masterclass in understanding and complying with the new component pricing law.

Victor says that the seminar will explain the law as it applies to ISPs, telcos and other industries.  ‘This law applies over almost all retailing in Australia,’ says Victor.  ‘So every business needs to be across it.’  Victor and Peter both specialise in plain english explanations, so this will be an ideal chance for business people to learn these important new rules.

Bookings are free but places are limited.  There are only so many people who can fit into the Logie-Smith Lanyon board room :-)

Here’s the seminar flyer.

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Australia tolerates currency forging

By on 18 June 2009 in advertising, Trade Practices Act

aussie_moneyAmazing headline ?  Well, it’s true.  Companies … well known companies … are manufacturing bogus Aussie dollars, and Canberra isn’t stopping it. 

How is it so ?  Simple.  Within Australia, the exchange rate is fixed.  A dollar in Perth is a dollar in Sydney. 

Only the dubious end of the telco sector gets away with saying ‘A dollar is worth whatever we say it is, for the purposes of any given plan.’

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3′s ‘Up yours’ to ACCC

By on 18 June 2009 in advertising, New laws, Trade Practices Act

3Mobile provider 3 is shirt-fronting ACCC in its current ‘Hot Offers’ promotional brochure.  Total pricing for 24 month plans throughout the document is buried in a sea of barely readable, light-coloured, small print at the foot of each page.

Under the new component pricing law that kicked in on 25 May, the single buy price of a plan like that must be ‘specified in a prominent way’.  If 3′s catalogue goes anywhere near passing that test, the new law is dead. 

ACCC really needs to kick off some enforcement action against retailers it considers aren’t complying with section 53C of the Trade Practices Act.  It’s hard to expect CSPs to follow the spirit of the component pricing law when their competitors seem to be getting away with feint micro-print.

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ACMA confirms 2009/10 Do Not Call washing fees

By on 17 June 2009 in DNCR Act

walletACMA has announced that excess usage fees for list washing will be abandoned from 1 July 2009.  Instead a so-called ‘annual subscription’ will in fact be a block prepurchase of washing credits that will normally expire if not used within 12 months.

If a telemarketer’s remaining ’annual’ subscription credits aren’t sufficient to pay for washing a submitted list in less than 12 months, they will have to buy a new ‘annual’ subscription before that list can be washed.  In that case, any unused credits from the first subscription will be rolled over into the second one.

ACMA has made the change because 90% of list washing ‘access seekers’ are already estimating their requirements pretty accurately.   If they keep doing that, the new block prepayments will usually cover a year’s use.  If not, access seekers may find their annual subscriptions aren’t actually annual.   Wonder what ACCC would make of a CSP that advertised an ‘annual’ fee that may or may not cover a year :-)

Keep reading for the full table of rates, showing the comparison with 2008/09.
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iiNet and AFACT both claim ‘win’ in preliminary discovery issues

By on 16 June 2009 in iiNet Case

204799_filesWe previously reported iiNet’s request for AFACT to give it access to various documents relating to the film studios’ potential actions against other ISPs in Australia and overseas.

Yesterday, the Federal Court largely rejected iiNet’s request, limiting the scope of the documents to be produced by AFACT to certain categories  relating to local infringement investigations.

At the same time, the Court ordered that iiNet discover the details of 20 anonymous customer accounts, well short of the 300 to 400 accounts reportedly sought by AFACT.

Both sides were quick to claim a minor victory – AFACT saying 20 accounts is sufficient for them to prove their case and iiNet saying they have effectively got the documents they asked for.

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