Consumer group Choice says geoblocking on Apple�s iTunes store disadvantages consumers. Picture: File Source: AFP
GLOBAL retail websites are blocking Australian consumers from cheaper overseas prices using out-of-date laws that should be reviewed, a peak tech industry body says.
The practice known as ?geoblocking? works by detecting a customer?s geographical location through their web IP address and locking them into an Australian ? or country specific - version of the site.
Australian Information Industry Association chief Suzanne Campbell, who represents brands that geoblock including Apple and Adobe, told a parliamentary inquiry into IT price discrimination yesterday that it ?definitely warrants scrutiny?.
?These arrangements are legacies from other times when we were seeking to protect Australian content," Ms Campbell said.
Consumer group Choice told the inquiry geoblocking was anti-competitive when it meant significant price differences for Australian consumers.
Choice pointed to Apple?s iTunes store and gaming retailer steampowered.com as examples of geoblocking that disadvantaged consumers.
Some games on steampowered.com?s Australian site are more than four times more expensive than the US version.
Australia sells Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for $89.99, Shift 2 Unleashed for $79.99 and Lord of the Rings: War in the North for $73.99.
All these titles cost $US19.99 ($18.99) at the retailer?s US store.
IT retailers are not the only ones under scrutiny, with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission investigating the practice of geoblocking in the clothing retail sector to determine if it is anti-competitive.
The watchdog launched the investigation after receiving complaints that some Australian fashion retailers were striking deals with overseas websites to charge Australians more or block them from buying certain brands.
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