Australian Consumer Group Wants Geo-IP Blocking Banned 233
daria42 writes "Live outside the US? Then you're probably used to being blocked from watching Hulu, frustrated by not being able to buy the eBooks you want from Amazon and most of all, annoyed about paying significantly higher prices than Americans for exactly the same software, games and content online, all based on your IP address. This week Australian consumer group Choice called for an Australian ban on geo-IP-blocking, saying it created significant barriers to the free flow of goods and services. Maybe other countries' consumer groups should follow suit, in the quest for a fair go?"
DON'T LIKE IT ?? MOVE TO THE US !! (Score:4, Funny)
We have it soooo good here !!
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I dont know ... We just need to sort this issue out to bump those Canucks out so we can most of Top 5 cities instead of just Top 10 ;-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_most_livable_cities [wikipedia.org]
1 Melbourne Australia
2 Vienna Austria
3 Vancouver Canada
4 Toronto Canada
5 Calgary Canada
6 Sydney Australia
7 Helsinki Finland
8 Perth Australia
Adelaide Australia
10 Auckland New Zealand
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Vienna? Really? That place is falling apart.
At least it was back around 2002 when I was there.
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... nevermind, my brain decided to make me look foolish. I'm thinking of elsewhere.
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In what fucking reality is Auckland livable? I swear to god, this place is a clusterfuck of weird rules, obscene council rates (taxes for you 'merikans) and sky-high prices for everything!
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We have it soooo good here !!
Would be a lot easier to buy a VPN account on a US server, I would think.
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Vodo uses BitTorrent to distribute. That rules it out for those of us in the "ass-reaming bandwidth costs" part of the world. I pay $2 per GB after the first 50GB in a month thanks very much.
(Next time you complain about 250GB or 1TB bandwidth caps, just give it up in advance - you'll get no sympathy from us).
Shooting themselves in the foot. (Score:5, Funny)
The content that's on Hulu is also on TPB. The only thing that I'm blocked from is paying for it.
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This is why I don't even complain about IP blocking. So far it hasn't inconvenienced me in the slightest.
Re:Shooting themselves in the foot. (Score:5, Informative)
The content that's on Hulu is also on TPB. The only thing that I'm blocked from is paying for it.
Music distributors, are you listening? I want to buy music from an artist I like, but your distribution agreements with iTunes won't let me (legitimately) PURCHASE the music you supposedly want to sell (it's only available in Canada, I live in the USA).
You are driving your WILLING customers to piracy with your idiotic market segmentation!
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The content that's on Hulu is also on TPB. The only thing that I'm blocked from is paying for it.
Music distributors, are you listening? I want to buy music from an artist I like, but your distribution agreements with iTunes won't let me (legitimately) PURCHASE the music you supposedly want to sell (it's only available in Canada, I live in the USA).
Here in lies one of the other problems.
I wont buy from Apple due to the way they treat their competitors, so I cant buy from Itunes and often here in Oz there is often no alternative.
Licensing should be indiscriminate. A flat license fee per copy sold (yes sales execs, I'm only counting when real money changes hands) should be payable to an independent licensing authority and this fee should be the same for the world over (no one in this day and age gives a shit if it's in US Dollars, Euro, South African Ra
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But then a friend referred me to a company willing to take my money, 7digital [7digital.com]. Oddly, they don't show up in the first page of Google results for "Buy music in Canada".
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And then rip the CD? So, instead of having the music instantly in a format I want, I have to wait until it arrives through snail mail and then I have to work to get it in a format I want? Thanks, but no thanks.
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Internet changed the rules, and instead of embracing and adapting to the change, they are just denying that it happened. And that is killing their future, they are forcing people (specially their would-be consumers, the ones that are willing to pay) to watch for alternatives, and adopting that into the global culture.
And trying to push that state of denial, lobbying for laws to force it and trying to export them everywhere, could not only make them fall, but entire governments, or define a new kind of slav
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I moved to US only recently (about a year ago), so I couldn't access Hulu or some books on Amazon, but "Frustrarion"? Seriously?
Hulu -- didn't even know what it is, or even that it exists.
Buying ebooks from Amazon -- OK, you do know that some people speak languages other than English, do you? For those who *want* the book in English, there are plently of DRM-free eBook readers and you can just pirate the content. For the most interesting stuff at least. You wouldn't but Kindle, if you are not in US, that is
Don't care (Score:2)
Re:Don't care (Score:5, Funny)
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the first rule of emule is, there is no emule anymore.
Fixed that for you
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I don't care...without being pestered with unskippable...warnings from foreign police organizations like the FBI...
You mean you don't take notice of FBI warnings? How dare you show such contempt for the global jurisdiction of the US Government!
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I don't care...without being pestered with unskippable...warnings from foreign police organizations like the FBI...
You mean you don't take notice of FBI warnings? How dare you show such contempt for the global jurisdiction of the US Government!
If your country bends over and accepts extradition requests from the US, that's their fault.
The problem is different (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, I endorse the intent of this, but the main reason the free flow of digital goods is blocked by region is because of the balkanized licensing of media. Geo-IP blocking is a consequence of this, not a cause of it.
If you want global viewing of content or global distribution of software, then the balkanization is the problem. For media such as movies and music, the solution would involve getting rid of local licensing and extortion by local media groups - good luck with that. For software, there are language and legal issues which differ from country to country, and a software maker may prefer to have these handled by a "distributor/importer" who gouges the consumer. In some cases, the "importer/distributor" is actually a local subsidiary of the overseas supplier, but still adds extra cost.
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Well, I endorse the intent of this, but the main reason the free flow of digital goods is blocked by region is because of the balkanized licensing of media. Geo-IP blocking is a consequence of this, not a cause of it.
Agreed with everything. This is hardly common knowledge though. It should be more transparent. Itemize the charges for regional fees/taxes and this will get the regular public aware of the issue and then maybe something can start to be done about it. As you say though, good luck with that. The interested parties don't want that kind of information revealed because it precisely gives the consumers something to target.
Education is the answer and it will take a long time.
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Granted, some online software stores give the same price globally, and even let me choose if I want
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Yeah.... good luck solving *THAT* problem.
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Lokalization/translation and tax can not explain the whole difference.
But population may.
China 1.3 billion. US 312 million. Australia 23 million. Denmark 6 million
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Indeed. If you can't get digital goods in one country, it's almost always because a local entity owns the copyright there and the Berne convention makes it illegal for US organizations like Amazon and Hulu to export to you. To Amazon, this is a lost sale, but it's better for them in the long run to institute these Geo-IP blocks than deal with the legal fallout from breaking copyright law.
It's your local rights holders who are the problem, not the overseas distributors.
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This may be the claim, but how often is software from the likes of Microsoft available in anything other than "US English"? (Including the EULA.)
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The real problem ... (Score:2)
While not really explained by the summary, the key issue is local business shielding the international businesses.
So for example (hypothetically), I want to order to something from Nike US because the product is not available in Australia - but I continually get re-directed back to the Australian store (and just have the US store completely blocked) ... annoying and they lose my business.
BUt more importantly for them, it is a way of forcing me to purchase at local prices form local distributors rather than
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this is true for airline tickets also . My wife is from Austria, so we used to fly to Europe often enough. A round trip from Vienna to the states is much MUCH cheaper than a round trip from the states to Vienna. We would try to go to the Austrian version of the carriers sites, but would get redirected back to the US prices when it was time to buy. We almost started planning for yearly trips the "wrong" way, 50 weeks apart , so we could technically originate in Europe, but the efforts were going to outweigh
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Some suggestions:
1. Access the sites through a proxy server based in the target country. Then you won't be blocked.
2. See if you can hire a local travel agent. They can probably get even bigger discounts and sometimes can find other carriers with even better prices.
3. Use the services of a host-country based "personal shopper" to conduct the transaction on your behalf if the foreign company has a problem with your IP address, mailing address, shipping address, your bank or your currency.
Naturally these
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This is one reason why I, as a libertarian, oppose tariffs universally.
Basically your country views us the same way many here view China.
It's harder to compete in the global economy when say, the steel you need to build cars with costs a lot more here due to tariffs, whereas its cheaper in another country who doesn't have tariffs. Sure you can protect a few steel industry jobs, but you do so at the expense of many more jobs. Contrary to popular left wing opinion, corporations love tariffs; it gets rid of th
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There are a couple of real issues involved here. Shoe sizing systems are not always the same between different countries and a US company might not know how much to charge for shipping.
"Waah, they don't wanna sell to me! Make them!" (Score:2)
it created significant barriers to the free flow of goods and services
If a government or another 3rd entity is implementing the block, then it's a barrier between Hulu/Amazon and you. If Hulu blocks you for whatever reason, it's just them refusing to serve you.
In the case of ad-supported TV, it kinda doesn't make sense for Hulu to show you ads for stuff you won't buy. Or am I missing something? As for Amazon, it's plainly their loss.
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Not quite right. It's a pseudo-govermental organization trying to get their way. Or, if you want to look at another angle, it's a group of businesses banding together trying to get their way in a market. In the old days I believe that was called a "trust".
Why there's no XBLIG in Australia (Score:2)
If Hulu blocks you for whatever reason, it's just them refusing to serve you.
Say Microsoft is implementing the block because the government has informed Microsoft that allowing Australians to buy certain applications would violate Australian law. Who would be responsible for the block in this case?
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Either way, it's a decision for the Australian government, and they have the power to make it work with most major multinational companies, just the same way the US government looks out of US business interests in other countries. The US was even able to get Swiss banks to hand over the names and address of American tax dodgers, something that they couldn't do for decades. The reason is the ability to put pressure on multinational firms who want to do business in your country. Naturally, if an American w
Compulsory classification (Score:2)
Naturally, the Aussies may make special exceptions when they want to keep their citizens from accessing specific US sites.
It's not merely "specific US sites", unless you're counting every online store that sells motion pictures or video games whose publisher hasn't paid off the Australian Classification Board [wikipedia.org] as "specific US sites".
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If Hulu blocks you for whatever reason, it's just them refusing to serve you.
Yea, thats fair enough, but thats not really the issue here, the issue is when GeoIP is being used to introduce discrimatory buisness practices.
Companies are refusing to serve you at the front desk like everyone else, but is willing to serve you "out the back" if you beg them.
Take an example of the top line visual studio, its cheaper for people in Australia to pay someone to fly to the US to buy it, give them a few weeks in vegas, and fly them home rather than buy it from Australia via the internet.
Really i
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It's not a case of Hulu refusing to serve you, if you're not in the US the Berne convention makes it illegal for them to do so.
are you free market? (Score:5, Insightful)
This is one of those areas where you can see what the so-called "free marketeers" really think. If you *really* believe in the free market, IP blocking, region codes, etc. should be right out because when it comes down to brass tacks they are simply artificial price controls on a marketplace that no longer have natural time and space restrictions in place. As usual it isn't about core beliefs, it's about what gets the most money in their fat hands.
If they want the world to be "free market" they need to stop being hypocritical and take the good with the bad. You can't go running to big brother every time it doesn't go your way and the outcome of your philosophy doesn't match up with what your perfect world looks like.
Yeah, I know it is way too much to ask.
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Companies love to talk about free markets (Score:5, Interesting)
Companies love to talk about free markets, but they hate to operate on them. Free to them means not the free flow of goods and services, it means the freedom to do whatever they like.
Steam for instance, topical, even has two tiers for europe; western and eastern, with different prices and catalogues. Imagine if they had two tiers for the US! If I go to Steam this very minute, in their "Flash Sale" there are four games listed. Well, normally. Currently one of the boxes say "We're sorry. This game is not available in your region".
They're allowed to produce products whereever in the world it's the cheapest for them -- which is fine -- HOWEVER they are then ALLOWED to segment markets so that consumers can't enjoy the same freedoms. Politicians bend over to give corps the legal tools to enforce these arbitrary restrictions on trade. Is it any wonder that we revile them?
Sorry for the ranting, but I don't have time to rewrite.
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Sorry for the ranting, but I don't have time to rewrite.
are you sure you're not giving us a lower-quality rant based on region?
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That's a silly rant. Parallel importers [wikipedia.org] make good business doing exactly what you seem to think is illegal. The only thing that prevents consumers from doing the same are convenience and legalized trade barriers (tarrifs and import duties), which are usually justified on the basis of protecting local jobs. If you want to buy dirt cheap products direct from the factory with no duties, convince your government to sign a free trade agreement with China. The Chinese would be thrilled.
But this is talking about d
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To establish free trade in digital goods, you'd have to overhaul the entire international copyright system, not a simple undertaking.
I think both Dwayne Hicks and Ellen Ripley voiced a plan that would fit here well.
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Or you could simply declare that later treaties such as NAFTA or Maastricht supercede t
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Steam for instance, topical, even has two tiers for europe; western and eastern, with different prices and catalogues.
In this context "whatever the like" includes breaking the law.
Imagine if they had two tiers for the US!
The real surprise is that they don't. Authorities in the EU tend to be for more agressive about persui
Re:My product, my price. (Score:4, Interesting)
Mandatory game ratings (Score:2)
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Australia's government will probably reject this. Geographic IP blocking is already necessary to protect Australians from being able to buy video games that Australia has not classified for elements objectionable to parents.
You;re right that Australia's government will reject that theory now we have an R18 rating ratified by parliament.
Yep, the whole process worked, Michael Atkinson was forced to stand down over voter dissent and R18 was passed.
Amazing isn't it.
As for parents, they've been buying violent games for little Johnny (the generic child, not our former Prime Minister) for longer than the discussion has even been in Parliament because they think their child can handle it. Yep, violent video games have been ar
Rating fee (Score:2)
You miss the piont (Score:2)
I'm not talking about games that would be rated R18. I'm talking about games whose (smaller) publishers have not paid the Australian Classification Board [classification.gov.au] to rate them, even if they would have ended up rated G or PG.
The article is also, not talking about these games.
Why does the latest Gears of Bore or Call of Halo cost 3 to 4 times as much in Australia, legally sold from Australian retail stores under Australian laws WITH AUSTRALIAN RATINGS than the exact same games in Europe or the United States (which it is 100% LEGAL TO IMPORT).
But nice try to dance around the point of price disparity for exactly the same product and grasp upon ideas that are not only horribly out of date but also incorrect (the laws do not
Stupid solution (Score:2)
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The problem with your AusFlix argument is that in international business the governments of nations don't just care about the legal entity operating within their borders, but also the relationship the legal entity has to other companies and individuals outside the country For instance, the UBS branches operating within the US are completely separate legal entities set up to serve the American market, but the US government was able to put pressure on UBS in Switzerland to reveal the names, addresses, and ac
Why? (Score:2)
What makes them think things should always be the same price, everywhere?
Sure, we're talking about essentially the same thing, but there's a reason why things cost different amounts in various places. Avacadoes are cheaper during avacado season, and cherries/apples/pears/etc. during their respective seasons. They're cheaper near where they are grown. Sometimes, they're not even available due to lack of demand.
It's simple economics. There's little/no reason why globally universal prices should be in place -
Re:Why? (Score:4, Insightful)
They're cheaper near where they are grown. Sometimes, they're not even available due to lack of demand.
It's simple economics. There's little/no reason why globally universal prices should be in place - it's an asinine idea.
Sure, this makes sense for the price of Avacadoes, but not for a ebook or a movie you can buy online.
So where is the problem?
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What makes them think things should always be the same price, everywhere?
Sure, we're talking about essentially the same thing, but there's a reason why things cost different amounts in various places. Avacadoes are cheaper during avacado season, and cherries/apples/pears/etc. during their respective seasons. They're cheaper near where they are grown. Sometimes, they're not even available due to lack of demand.
It's simple economics. There's little/no reason why globally universal prices should be in place - it's an asinine idea.
Because you're an idiot. Avocado's are real goods requiring real transportation from the fields to the markets.
Digital media has no such constraints. The goods served out of the same server in Europe have the same cost regardless of if they are served to France, Spain or Germany. Why does the price differ for these three countries?
Same as serving them from Japan, NA or Europe into any country in the world. It's an extremely asinine idea to think that digital goods have the same inherent transport cos
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Easy solution (Score:4, Informative)
Go out and purchase a VPS hosted in the data center of your choice in the country of your choice.
I do this currently, granted it is not to get around GEO IP Blocking, rather for a centrally hosted box I can connect my roaming devices to via VPN and route all my traffic through it.
I like the BBC, and yes I could go TPB route if I wanted, I can also pay $10 a month for a VPS hosted in a data center in the UK, which would allow me to watch BBC streamed programs without having to wait for them to show up on BBC America. That, and well, who needs ATT/Verizon/whomever snooping on your traffic and profiting from it..
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And when you have to put in your shipping and billing address...?
I think the author was talking about digital media transferred through the Internet, not physical goods. As far as the billing address goes, use PayPal or similar.
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Most of those services actually block you if your PayPal account is not registered in their country. Personally, my approach is to search Google for a local hotel and use that as the address. I won't detail how exactly I get around credit card issuer geo-blocking for obvious reasons (namely not wanting the dicks that geo-block to work out a way around it).
Legislation is not the way to deal with this (Score:2)
While I also dislike geoip blocking I think that we can fight them much more effectively by technological means (like proxies) than by further regulation of the Internet.
I'm all for this (Score:2)
I hate how I can't access some sites, pay more for some services (eg steam, adobe) or get inferior counterparts eg (low quality steams).
This would kinda screw up agreements where IP isnt licensed for use in Australia or say censored/not released here yet but it would sure make a lot of Australians happy.
Paradox. (Score:2)
(Due to legislation in your geographical area that requires us not to block users in certain geographical areas based on their apparent geographical area, we cannot host or advertise our services in your geographical area and this comment is thus not available in your geographical area. We are sorry for the inconvenience and redundancy.)
BBC (Score:2)
Now, if they'll band this in the UK, I'll be able to watch Dr. Who on BBC's website, instead of having to search it out on a more "questionable" site. (/wishful-thinking)
Bass Akward (Score:2)
The people trying to legislate it don't get it. You can't legislate what happens in someone else's country. If you want what is in that country then you may need to move there.
A Solution Exists (Score:2)
One work-around that already exists is to hire an American or other foreign "personal shopper". You can also access sites directly through a US based proxy server. But even if you get access to the blocked site that doesn't mean the retailer will ship to your Australian address or accept your Australian currency, credit card, etc.. Again, the personal shopper becomes the solution. They can even package and consolidate multiple orders from multiple businesses as one single shipment to save on transportat
So... (Score:2)
You want to pass a law in Australia banning a foreign company, over whom you have no jurisdiction, from banning users from your country.
Good luck with that.
double stupid (Score:2)
Forswear Breath Holding (Score:3)
Though as a USian, I have to point out I don't think they've yet joined in our extra-judicial citizen-killing.
* - Yes, he's kind of a dick; doesn't justify meddling in the rights and justice systems of three sovereign countries.
Solutions (Score:2)
Join the Virtual US!
YMMV, and you then must pay the shipping at consumer rates for hard goods, and then customs and import duties as required, and any local regional taxes on purchased materials above customs and duties fees, for example in Washington State we have a "use tax" on goods purchased out of state and brought into th
Re:Globalism (Score:5, Funny)
There is a free world-market for multinationals but still a higly localized and bordered market for consumers buying the products from the multinationals. It's about time this gets fixed.
If trousers are less expensive in the US, why is it illegal for me to import them to the EU and sell them in masses?
Because if God wanted you to have rights, he would have made you a financial instrument, not a puny flesh pod.
Re:Globalism (Score:5, Insightful)
So the real problem is stupid laws. I would like to point fingers at some other country, but the US and US states are probably the world's worst offenders. Right now there's some guy serving a four year prison term in Florida for violating Florida's "obscenity" laws, but he never set food in Florida until an extradition order had him arrested in his home state of California and transported to Florida in a prison van to be tried by a jury of his non-peers. Why was this allowed? Because he had a p0rn site, his web hosting company used servers in Florida, and he mailed DVD's all across the country - including Florida. Now the material this guy produced WAS obscene, but if California did not see a reason to prosecute him then that should have been the end of the case unless he relocated to Florida to run his business.
"States Rights" sounds like some sort of great idea until you consider that the focus is on the right of the state over the rights of individuals. For instance, there is a myth that the Civil War was fought over slavery, but this is not true - it was fought over States Rights, such as the right to enslave their own people. Given that we live in an age of light-speed telecommunications, overnight shipping, a national highway system, and frequent flyer miles, the notion that every American needs to be intimately familiar with all of the laws, legal precedent, and nuance for how these laws are enforced in all 50 states while they go about their daily affairs is just no longer practical.
Maybe the US needs to overhaul the Constitution and reorganize. Somewhere between six and ten administrative regions might be more appropriate. After fixing our internal problems then we should tackle some of the nonsense with our international relations.
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Really, most of the people pushing "States' Rights" mean "right for the state to do what I want it to do" and squeal like a stuck pig when a state legalizes gay marriage or marijuana.
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Wow, an intelligent response to a political topic - you refresh my faith in /.ers. Somehow most political discussion around here has devolved to "ha ha, stupid conservatives sure are stupid", which may sevre its purpose as tribal identification, but does nothing to further intelligent debate.
I'm a big believer in "solve every problem with the least government, and the most-local government that is practical for that problem". Havig states thta are progressive utiopias, and states that are conservative ut
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I'm a big believer in "solve every problem with the least government, and the most-local government that is practical for that problem".
I fully agree with that. I really don't see why this is often perceived to be incompatible with left views, either. Why wouldn't I want my state to be free from (what I perceive as) undesired influence by other states so that it is free to implement more progressive policies unhindered?
That said, the guy I responded to does have a point in that many conservatives (as opposed to libertarians) do indeed care about state rights and decentralization only insofar as it doesn't touch on issues they consider impor
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Because then other states would have to be free from your undesired influence
Sure, and I don't have a problem with that. They can teach creationism in their schools and ban taxes; I'll have my weed and socialized medicine.
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I'm a big believer in "solve every problem with the least government
I am too. The problem is most conservatives see drugs as a problem by definition, and want to solve it with the least government possible. Since the drug "problem" is not solvable, that translates into maximal government whenever drugs are concerned.
The difference between conservatives and liberals isn't big government versus small government. Both sides are more than willing to use big government to get what they want. It's how respons
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I don't know - at least for the conservative blogs I read, the commentators are pretty united in their views that "drugs ar ebad, mkay, but this war on drugs is worse".
Everyone on both sides thinks the other side is just too stupid to recognize the facts in front of them. Often what people mss (when they say this) is the clash of values. Facts are only necessarily persuasive to people with similar values and goals - if you're clearly proving some downside to a plan, and the other side simply doesn't see t
Re:Globalism (Score:4, Informative)
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If this is the case referenced, the original reference was a blatant lie.
A California citizen wasn't extradited to Florida, to be tried on charges in Florida.
A California citizen was charged, tried, and convicted in federal court. There was no state extradition and misapplication of jurisdiction of state laws.
But hey, people can say anything they want, and still get modded up without factual backing. Gotta love Slashdot.
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I think there might be a couple different issues here. You're talking about geoblocking so that a company doesn't violate laws in some other country or locale, but I think what the Australians are griping about is geoblocking that either prevents them from accessing services that people in other countries are allowed to access (namely streaming video services, digital downloads, etc.), or charges them differently (and much more) than people in other areas.
I can't imagine why anyone would have a problem wit
Re:Australia can ban what they like (Score:4, Informative)
It won't help, when the exact thing they are complaining about is what businesses *in other countries* are doing.
I was wondering about that too. It turns out the summary overemphasizes a few minor points of the article which the poster found interesting while ignoring the main point of the proposal. The meat of the proposal is to prohibit the common practice of charging Australian purchasers of digital goods delivered over the Internet about 50% more for no appearent reason.
If this were about foreign companies refusing to serve Australian customers, then I agree, there would be little they could do about it. But since these companies are already selling in the Australian market and would like to continue to do so, the Australian goverment has much more leverage.
Re:Australia can ban what they like (Score:5, Informative)
Without national IP blocking, many companies would be found guilty of violating copyright by exceeding the terms of their licenses.
Author A produces a work.
Author A licenses it to Publisher B for production/sale in the US.
Author A licenses it to Publisher C for production/sale in Asia.
Author A licenses it to Publisher D for production/sale in Australia.
etc.
If the Publishers B, C & D don't do national IP filtering, and someone from the wrong region buys the copy they are licensed to sell in a *different* region, then they're guilty of copyright violation.
Forcing Author A to license the work to a single publisher for production/sale world-wide means that only large publishers with divisions and knowledge of laws world-wide could publish works.
Now, the issue of Australia having higher prices? That comes down to a number of factors, most of which are unknown to anyone but the companies involved. Some of them, though, include high import taxes, special legal requirements which apply *only* within Australia (such as mandatory game ratings which can actually *prevent* a work from being sold, not simply limit the number of outlets willing to stock it), etc.
I've seen people do the math on some items and discover that when import taxes are taken into account, the 50% price differential is actually as low as 20% or as high as 45%, depending on the particular object being imported. Some of that is, undoubtedly, a bit of 'padding' to account for currency fluctuations, and exchange fees, and some of it is probably an acknowledgement that they've already been pushed into the next 'price bracket', so they may as well round it up to the 'top' of that bracket. (A $19.99 item gets imported, and the additional costs raise the effective price to $21.54AU, they're probably going to decide to price it at $24.99AU.)
Making national IP blocking illegal won't fix the problem because because of the licensing issues mentioned above. The import issues are going to remain as long as the laws which cause them remain. Price point bracketing can account for a lot of the difference. But sometimes it's quite a bit more, and *that* needs to be looked at.
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John Scalzi's editor, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, wrote a comment on one of Scalzi's blog posts explaining this in the context of ebooks:
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/06/13/patrick-nielsen-hayden-explains-ebook-territorial-rights-for-you/ [scalzi.com]
If I remember phn's description correctly, in AC's example I'm not so sure B selling a copy of the work in Asia would be copyright infringement. I think it would be a violation of the contract between A and B.
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The solution to that is for Author A to licence it to distribution company E for online access worldwide,
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And yet a product on Steam is twice the price in AU as it is in US, and it doesn't have any of the above factors to justify it.
Skyrim on AU Steam: $89.99. Skyrim on US Steam: $59.99. A $30 difference, to sell to a country which requires no localisation, in the same currency. There is no sales tax applied, or is there any retail margin. It's just Bethesda and Valve gouging because they think they can. The Bethesda Collection on Steam isn't even available in AU.
Ditto for The Witcher 2: $49.99 AU vs $39.9
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Please explain what is "leftist" about the Australian consumer group Choice?
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See my reply to Stupid Solution above.
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I've seen a Sigur Rós video get blocked to viewers in Iceland. I mean, WTH?
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A short video about a Dutch athlete on the BBC site, blocked for Dutch viewers.
Want to download from the BBC? Expatshield is your friend.
http://www.expatshield.com/
The web page below has a list of other free proxy services
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-anonymous-surfing-service.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+gizmosbest+%28Gizmo%27s+Best-ever+Freeware%29
What pisses me off is different prices for the same piece of downloadable software from the same company, depending on where you live. I can't remember the product, but it cost $30 fro