The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has urged local retailers to voice their concerns about eBook price-fixing as it considers a lawsuit against Apple and five of the world’s largest book publishers, The Financial Review reported on Thursday. “The ACCC has previously stated that impediments to emerging competition involving online traders is an area of priority,” a spokesperson said. “Competition concerns may arise where traders seek to restrict the discounting of products b...

An Australian court on Tuesday ruled that Google engaged in “misleading and deceptive” advertising practices, Reuters reported. The court said that between March 2006 and July 2007, Google published search results for queries related to Honda Australia with paid advertisements for Honda competitor CarSales. The advertisements led users to believes that CarSales was linked to Honda Australia. The search giant argued that it was not responsible for misleading search results since it was merely a...

Apple’s hot new iPad tablet has been a massive global success. The company recently announced that it sold more than 3 million new slates in fewer than four days of availability, making it the second most successful launch in the Apple’s history behind the iPhone 4S. Heat issues aside, Apple found itself in a bit of hot water earlier this week when Australian regulators took issue with Apple’s use of the term “4G” in its advertising. The new iPad indeed supports 4G LTE networks i...

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on Tuesday claimed that Apple is using misleading promotions for its new iPad tablet, Reuters reported. The ACCC will ask an Australian high court on Wednesday to order the Cupertino-based company to make customers aware of the true technical capabilities of the device, correct its current advertising and refund any affected buyers. Apple’s newest iPad can utilize 4G LTE networks, however it can only do so in North America. The company has still adverti...

WikiLeaks announced that its founder and leader Julian Assange is planning to run for a seat on the Australian Senate, the Associated Press reported on Saturday. Despite being under house arrest in England and facing sex crime allegations in Sweden, the group said it is possible for Assange to run. “We have discovered that it is possible for Julian Assange to run for the Australian Senate while detained. Julian has decided to run,” WikiLeaks announced on Twitter. The group also announced that it w...

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has fined Nokia for sending spam-filled text messages to its customers. Nokia had been sending messages with tips on how customers could take advantage of their phones’ features, Reuters said Tuesday, but the government agreed Nokia should allow its customers to opt out of receiving the messages. ”Some businesses are still not getting SMS marketing right,” Australian Communications and Media Authority chairman Richard Bean told Reuters. &#...

As Samsung continues to field repeated patent-related strikes from Apple in Australia and around the world, the Cupertino-based company’s aggressive stance seems to be having an unforeseen side effect in some cases. As Apple continues to inadvertently help Samsung advertise its products across the Australian region, market research firm IDC revealed on Monday that the South Korea-based electronics giant passed Apple in the third quarter to become the No.1 mobile phone vendor in Australia and New Ze...

Samsung recently won a appeal lawsuit against Apple in Australia that overturned a ban on sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the country. An appeals court, which recently said the ban was “not terribly fair” to Samsung, explained that the original judge in a lower court had made a mistake in approving Apple’s request for an injunction against the tablet. “We cannot see how Samsung’s conduct in refusing the offer of an early trial could properly be weighed,” the appeals court ...

An appeals judge in Australia recently said that a ruling which banned Samsung’s local subsidiaries from selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 was unfair to Samsung. “The result looks terribly fair to Apple and not terribly fair to Samsung,” federal court justice Lindsay Foster said on Friday. Samsung’s lawyer Neil Young said the lawyer in the original case, federal court justice Annabelle Bennett, failed to take into consideration the “dire consequences” that the ban would have on Samsu...

Australian Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett has ruled that Apple must show Samsung its contracts with Vodafone, SingTel and Telstra if it cannot reach an agreement on Samsung’s accusations that the iPhone maker contractually forces the carriers to subsidize the iPhone. Samsung has also argued that the Apple iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPad 2 and iPhone 3GS infringe on its patents, and has sought to ban sales of the devices in Australia. Apple, however, has already successfully banned Samsung’s ...

Samsung recently asked Apple to provide it with source code for the the firmware used in its iPhone 4S, ZDNET reported on Tuesday. The South Korea-based phone maker also asked for details on Apple’s subsidy agreements with Australian carriers Vodafone, Optus and Telstra. The moves were part of an ongoing lawsuit in which Samsung has accused Apple of infringing on three of its patents. Apple believes Samsung has no need to access the information, but Samsung’s lawyer argued that there are fewer ...

Samsung has appealed a ruling by an Australian court that prevents it from selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the country in an effort to get the tablet on store shelves in time for the holidays. Samsung attorney Neil Young accused Justice Annabelle Bennett of making “irrelevant considerations” and “making errors of law in her approach” to the injunction. The request for an appeal hearing will be granted by Justice Lindsay Foster, likely for the week of November 21st, The Wall Street Journ...

Samsung recently filed lawsuits in Japan and Australia in an attempt to prevent Apple from selling the iPhone 4S. In addition, Samsung is seeking to block the sale of the iPad 2 and the original iPhone 4 in Japan, Bloomberg said Monday. In September, the South Korea-based phone maker also filed motions to ban the iPhone 4S in France and Italy. “Apple has continued to violate our patent rights and free ride on our technology,” Samsung said. “We will no longer stand idly by and will steadfastl...

Apple won a patent infringement lawsuit it brought against Samsung in Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Thursday. The ruling prevents Samsung’s Australia-based businesses from selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 locally. Samsung had originally agreed not to sell or advertise its tablet in Australia until the court issued its ruling on the matter. In late September, the South Korea-based phone maker proposed a secret deal with Apple, in which it would tweak the parts of the tablet in order to avoi...