PiracySet to Increase in

Australia?

LawsuitsA Detriment to Business

Source: ArsTechnica.com

“The RIAA's prelitigation settlement letters say that defendants are liable for costs of $750 per song. MediaSentry flagged 706 songs on the computer that became the basis for the lawsuit, and at $750 per song, that works out to a total of $529,500.”

The end result is that the RIAA likely spent thousands of dollars to obtain a $300 judgment.

Source: TGDaily.com

“In a recent conversation with TG Daily, Jonathan Lamy, a spokesman for the RIAA acknowledged the massive PR headaches and friction with the public that it’s large-scale years long lawsuit campaign had generated and that suing potential customers ‘was not the best answer.’“

Digital Rights ManagementWho is the Target?

Sources:Joystiq.com – product-reviews.net

“In practice, this means if you were to lose the connection during play, you'd lose your progress and, if and when the connection was re-established, you'd be kicked back to the last checkpoint -- not exactly diggable management, right?”

“We have recently heard that PC gamers who play Assassin’s Creed 2 have been recently experiencing issues with the game, apparently overloaded DRM servers are ‘locking out’ gamers.”

Software Price GougingReasonless Greed

Windows SevenProduct - American Price – Australian Price – Percentage Increase

Windows 7 Professional Upgrade $216 - $399 - 84.72%Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade $236 - $429 - 81.77%Windows 7 Professional Full $322 - $449 - 39.44%Windows 7 Ultimate Full $345 - $469 - 35.94%

Prices have mad minimal variance from when these figures were collectedImport Tariffs = approx. 10% + shippingAll Prices in Australian Dollars

EB Games Online StoreProduct - American Price – Australian Price – Percentage Increase

Starcraft 2 - $66.73 - $98.00 - 46.86%World of Warcraft: Cataclysm - $44.48 - $58.00 - 30.39%World of Warcraft: Cata.Collectors - $88.98 - $108.00 - 21.37%

In Conclusion....