Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
The Australian office of eBay has written to the ACCC,
through its law firm Deacons, with a request for immunity from the
Trade Practices Act over the PayPal action. This fact alone indicates
that eBay believes it could have a legal problem.
The ACCC, which has often been described as a
toothless tiger because of perceived failures to regulate effectively
in areas such as telecommunications and petrol pricing, has now found
itself thrust into the global limelight. There is no doubt that its
ruling on what eBay Australia is attempting to with PayPal will be
watched keenly in other markets around the world.
If the ACCC does in fact grant eBay Australia the right to demand
exclusive use of its PayPal system, it will have bought into eBay's
argument that eliminating competition is over-ridden by its contentious
claim that Paypal offers greater buyer protection. This could set a
precedent and open the floodgates for eBay in other markets around the
world, including the US and EU.
On the other hand, if the ACCC stands firm on its purported
longstanding commitment to fostering fair and open competition in the
marketplace and shuts down the eBay Australia PayPal push, the decision
will go a long way to scotching further eBay moves in this regard
elsewhere in the world.
Australia, because of its relative isolation and highly developed
economy, has long been regarded as a test market for US and other
multinational companies. The action of eBay Australia with PayPal is
one test case that will be watched particularly closely.
David Bass
| For the fourth year in a row, IDC has placed content security provider Websense (NASDAQ: WBSN) at the top of the IDC Worldwide Web Security 2011 –…
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