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According to a report by Australian consumer group Choice, Australians are paying five times more for the same software than US customers. Choice is the largest consumer organization in Australia with over 200,000 subscribers.

The report said that Adobe and Electronic Arts are charging users different prices to download video games and graphics software depending on which country they’re in.

For example Australian users are charged as much as $1000 extra by Adobe to download the same program as customers who log in from the US.

Similarly, gamers who visit the Steam and Electronic Arts websites are charged up to five times more to download popular titles like Medal Of Honour: Airborne — which Australians can buy and download for $99.95, while users in the US pay just $21.15 ($US19.95).

Choice magazine spokesman Christopher Zinn said companies charged varying prices in different regions simply because they could. The pertinent point is that they are actually excuses as to price discrimination. They’re not necessarily reasons, or good reasons.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it was powerless to stop the practice of regional price discrimination, as it does not contravene trade laws.

According to an ACCC spokesperson:

There is no prohibition on price discrimination in the Trade Practices Act 1974. For example, it is not illegal for a supermarket chain to charge more for a particular product (such as soup) in a more affluent area where there may not be as much competition than it does in an area of greater competition, or less affluence.

An Adobe spokesperson said that it does not control prices set by retailers and that its online store had been priced to support those retailers in Australia.

Pacific marketing manager Mark Cokes said:

When setting our store price we analyse the market and set our pricing accordingly. In this way we try to actively support our local Australian channel partners who have invested a lot in their own businesses.

Credit: CHOICE Australia