Freeserve punters to get Wanadoo email addys
Posted by Daniel Fleshbourne on 29 July 2002 - 13:52 · 3 comments & 56 views
About the Author
Full name: Daniel Fleshbourne
Forum name: Daniel
Contact: via forum PM
Submissions: Normal · Headline
Full name: Daniel Fleshbourne
Forum name: Daniel
Contact: via forum PM
Submissions: Normal · Headline
Slashdot It!
Submit to reddit
Submit to blinklist
Bookmark on del.icio.us
Add to furl
Share on Facebook
Add to Windows Live
Add to Google
Around 2.5 million Freeserve customers will see their email addresses changed to @Wanadoo.com. The rebranding exercise could cost as much as £30m but
Wanadoo reckons it can achieve savings on marketing and advertising costs, and compete more forcefully against pan-European brands such as AOL and Tiscali.
The ACCC had intervened to support Sydney PlayStation retailer Eddy Stevens after he was sued by Sony for installing code-breaking chips in consoles and selling them.
In a separate case that has yet to be judged, Sony has also accused Stevens of selling pirated PlayStation games.
PIRACY
The electronics giant argues that regional coding, under which it sells different consoles to three geographically exclusive zones, prevents piracy.
But Justice Ronald Sackville of the Federal Court said Sony failed to prove that the regional coding was simply aimed at copyright protection, and that mod chips were therefore in breach of copyright legislation.
Sony Computer Entertainment Australia said it had the right to appeal and was in discussions with its parent company.
"We're obviously very disappointed," managing director Michael Ephraim told Reuters.
Ephraim lashed out at the ACCC for what he said were "misleading" and "distorted" comments to Australian consumers about competition and regional coding.
He said PlayStation 2 games sold in Australia at the same price as in the United States and at up to 20 percent less than in Britain.
The court case was purely about piracy, he said.
"Piracy is a major problem," Ephraim said.
Citing independent surveys, he said the cost of piracy to Australia's A$680 million (US$367 million) a year computer games industry amounted to A$50 million per annum.
Pirated PlayStation 1 games sell on the black market for as little as A$5 compared to a retail price of up to A$49 while PlayStation 2 games can be bought for around A$30, against the normal retail price of around A$100.
The Sony executive said that rather than being designed for commercial motives, regional coding came about because of different television formats in Australia and the United States.
Furthermore, he said there was nothing in the court ruling that allowed consumers to legally play back-up copies, as suggested by ACCC chairman Fels.
"There is no such thing as an authorized back-up copy," Ephraim said. "The copyright act makes it clear that making back-up copies of games is illegal."