In this month’s update we take a look at some of the following competition and market regulation developments in brief:
- The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has been alerted by AGL Wholesale Gas Limited (AGL) of an access dispute with the East Australian Pipeline Limited (EAPL) relating to access to parts of the Moomba to Sydney gas pipeline.
- The Federal Court found that the ACCC was not permitted to issue a particular Competition Notice to Telstra in April 2006. The ACCC had issued a Consultation Notice to Telstra in December 2005 due to Telstra increasing its wholesale prices for line rental. In April 2006, the ACCC issued a Competition Notice to Telstra which contained some information which was not in the Consultation Notice. The Federal Court held that the ACCC was not allowed to issue the Competition Notice due to differences between it and the Consultation Notice.
- A number of telecommunications access disputes involving Telstra have recently been notified to the ACCC, notably involving Netspace Pty Ltd, TGP Internet Pty Ltd, and Network Technologies (Aust) Pty Ltd.
- Foxtel has become the first company to register a special access undertaking with the ACCC. The undertaking relates to its digital Pay TV set top unit service. Under the undertaking, independent providers of digital content channels may use Foxtel’s digital set top units to directly offer their channels to Foxtel customers.
- The Supreme Court of Queensland Court of Appeal recently dismissed an appeal against a District Court judge’s finding of liability for misleading or deceptive conduct pursuant to section 52 of the Trade Practices Act. The conduct related to purchase of a health products business (see Wright v Rare Import Export Co Pty Ltd [2007] QCA 089).
- The ACCC’s crackdown on resale price maintenance continues. Firstly, a penalty of $125,000 was ordered by the Federal Court of Australia against Tooltechnic Systems, an importer of power tools, for resale price maintenance in 2001 and 2002. Secondly, Jaggad Pty Ltd, a sports clothing manufacturer has given the ACCC a number of court-enforceable undertakings precluding it from establishing minimum resale prices for Jaggad Apparel.
More information
For information regarding possible implications for your business, contact a member of the Competition & Market Regulation team.