ACMA issues ByteCard compliance warning
Canberra ISP ByteCard has received a formal warning from ACMA for failing to comply with the TIO Scheme.
The warning comes after disputes were alleged to have remained unresolved, as a consequence of this ISP’s refusal to comply with the TIO Scheme.
According to ACMA:
The TIO referred this matter to ACMA because Bytecard had failed to cooperate with the TIO in relation to two continuing matters. Both the TIO and ACMA have made attempts to encourage Bytecard to voluntarily comply with the TIO Scheme, without success.
ACCC calls Telstra a liar over ‘full’ exchanges
ACCC today filed an application in the Federal Court for orders against Telstra, claiming it has wrongfully denied competitors access to parts of its network.
According to ACCC, Telstra told other ISPs that it was all out of MDF capacity in seven key city exchanges. So sorry, but you just can’t interconnect here. Says ACCC: That was untrue, and you’ve breached section 52 of the Trade Practices Act by engaging in misleading and deceptive conduct.
ACCC also says Telstra has breached its licence terms and its ‘standard access obligations’. The regulator wants financial penalties, declarations of wrongdoing and court injunctions.
New scam for shonky Premium SMS operator
Last week we reported on an announcement by ACCC Chairman Graeme Samuels, that the ACCC would be taking action unless the Premium Service operators cleaned up their act. Today we have been contacted by a reader who has alerted us to a new scam one shonky operator is using.
Our reader received an SMS which said something along the lines of “who are you, and why did you call me“, of course our reader had no idea who the SMS was from, and thought to himself, ‘who could this be, I don’t recall ringing a wrong number’.
As it is with most of us, curiosity got the better of him, so he replied to say that the sender must have the wrong number, and that they must be mistaken.
Westpac called to account on Do Not Call register
ACMA have reported that Westpac was issued with a formal warning for breaches of the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (‘the Act’).
ACMA reported that Westpac was the bank that had the greatest number of complaints made against it to ACMA, concerning alleged breaches of the the Act. ACMA claim that although Westpac had a relationship with its customers, ‘its procedures for recording the withdrawal of consent had failed.’
ACCC explains warranty laws … again
For some reason, many businesses just can’t get their minds around Australia’s warranty laws. ACCC has issued a new booklet explaining how it works, again.
The subject has been addressed any number of times by the Commission in the past. Despite that, serious breaches by organisations that should know better are commonplace. In recent months, CSP Central has pointed out breaches by:
Misrepresenting consumer rights is a criminal offence under the Trade Practices Act, so business and lawyers alike would be wise to study the new ACCC guide.
ACCC eyeballs telcos over premium SMS
ACCC Chairman Graeme Samuel has fired a clear message across the bows of Australian mobile service providers: Do something about the premium SMS problem or ACCC will do something about you.
We reported ACCC’s increasing hostility to SMS scams last November, when Enforcement Commissioner Sarah Court told an audience that ACCC was ‘getting very cranky’ about them.
Writing in The Age online, the Chairman now says: ‘Australia’s telecommunications sector has become so riddled with rogue operators, deceitful behaviour and scams, it can no longer be ignored. Unless the industry … acts decisively to correct [the problem] it may find change forced upon it by the courts, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and its disgruntled customers.’
According to Samuel, service providers, publishers and carriers have turned a blind eye while taking a slice of the profits. He needs to be careful to distinguish the position of many resellers and MVNOs further down the food chain, who have no real power over premium SMS and dislike it as much as consumers do. It makes them no money and causes huge headaches when customers refuse to pay entire bills because of an inflated premium SMS pass-through component.
ACCC has issued a follow up media statement.
Peter Moon talks to corporate lawyers about Facebook
CSP Central’s Peter Moon today addressed the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association at Melbourne’s famous MCG stadium on the topic ‘The future of Facebook and lawyers’.
Cutting through the media hype, Peter carefully explained what Facebook really is, why it’s attracting users outside its original student constituency. He also discussed its limitations as a serious business tool, and when business is better to look for a different rapid deployment solution.
Get a copy of Peter’s speaker notes here.
Bushfires prompt changes to Use and Disclosure restrictions
In the wake of the terrible bush fires that hit Victoria, new regulations create an exception to the use and disclosure offences under Part 13 of the Telecommunications Act 1997.
Part 13 of the Act requires that Carriers, CSPs, their employees and contractors protect the confidentiality of protected information such as the content of communications, the affairs and personal particulars of people and namely the integrated public number database. The offences under this part are contained in sections 276 to 278, and can include a penalty of imprisonment against offenders.