Thanks to Tim Richards of gamenews.com.au for sending us this report. Gamesnews.com.au is a free resource for Australian game industry professionals and consumers.
The Australian government is currently seeking to pass the Copyright Amendment (Parallel Importation) Bill 2002 through the Senate, a proposed law to allow the importation of software from overseas, so called 'parallel importation'.
While the newspapers reported this morning that the Bill was expected to be passed by the Senate today, the Bill was not actually debated (and not passed). If made into law, it will allow software to be imported into Australia that has been legally manufactured in its country of origin, removing any ability for copyright holders in Australia to enforce exclusive rights to sell the software in Australia. Some commentators believe the retail cost of computer games could decrease, due to increased competition in the local market, as current copyright holders compete with parallel importers.
The flip side of the argument put by other commentators is that if the market becomes too competitive, some providers will exit and the benefits of competition will evaporate. For an overview of industry views of parallel importation of software, see the Australian It article here [external site]. To go direct to a copy of the text of the Bill, click here [external site]. To visit the Senate website, click here [external site].
By Tim Richards [26 March 2003]