Competition Policy Review
ARIA submission on the Issues paper
Australian Recording Industry Association
Addresses six key questions from issues paper:
- regulatory impediments to competition
(opposes recommendation 10 by House Standing Committee 2013 (that Govt 'investigate feasibility of amending the [CCA] so that contracts or terms of service which seek to enforce geoblocking are considered void') - price discrimination
(opposes re-introduction of price discrimination laws) - IP laws
(opposes repeal of IP exemptions in 51(3). Suggest 'recommendations of the Ergas Committee and the Government's Response need to be revisited' re: s 51(3) and also notes that the phrase 'to the extent that the condition relates to' in s 51(3) requires clarification. Also claim statutory pricing caps in s 152(8) and (11) of the Copyright Act have an adverse impact on competition and 'create market distortions and reduce economic efficiency'. Refers to Ergas recommendation that s 152(8) of the Copyright Act be 'amended to remove the broadcast fee price cap'.) - effectiveness of current competition laws
(claim CCA is 'less than fully effective because it is too complicated and too prescriptive to be complied with readily by business organisations'; CCA should be simplified) - provisions on cartels, horizontal agreements and primary boycotts
('ARIA supports the much simpler and more effective cartel-related provisions proposed in the Commerce (Cartels and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2011 as reported by the NZ Commerce Committee in May 2013') - price signalling
(should be repealed)