Calling it a 'tax' is indeed inaccurate and misleading. The purpose of the inquiry was to look at regional price discrimination against Australian consumers. "

Calling it a 'tax' is indeed inaccurate and misleading. The purpose of the inquiry was to look at regional price discrimination against Australian consumers. "The Treasury’s submission to the inquiry defined international price discrimination in these terms: Geographic price discrimination occurs when a business charges different prices for the same product in two or more different locations. International price discrimination is when geographic price discrimination occurs across country borders. To maximise profit, many businesses do not sell based simply on a mark-up of what the product cost to produce, but rather price according to what they consider the market can bear, that is, according to the consumers’ marginal willingness to pay." http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House_of_Representatives_Committees?url=ic/itpricing/report.htm http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Hous... To my mind it's just smart business for software makers to price their products at what the market will bare. However I think it crosses a line when sellers of "digital goods" build in technical geoblocking (e.g. regional website redirects, region-specific app stores) and licensing agreements which enforce consumers purchase in a specific reason. The parliamentary committee was the result of certain sections of the market saying their not willing to bare this pricing tactic and looking to raise awareness amongst those who aren't aware that it is happening. Also interesting and was this earlier article from mid-way through the inquiry with a focus on Adobe: "At the parliamentary hearing, he said that customers can buy Adobe boxed products overseas, but that those products would not be covered by the company's local warranty policies." - Adobe managing director for Australia and New Zealand Paul Robson http://www.zdnet.com/au/adobe-to-australia-higher-pricing-is-your-personalised-experience-7000012972/ http://www.zdnet.com/au/adobe-to-australia-higher-pricing-is...