[AusNOG] Telstra fined $18m for blocking access to its exchanges.

[Nick Slager]

On 28/07/2010, at 3:11 PM, Andrew Fort wrote:

> On Wed, Jul 28, 2010 at 2:54 PM, Sean K. Finn
> <sean.finn at ozservers.com.au> wrote:
>> “Telstra has been ordered to pay $18.55 million to the Commonwealth for
>> breaching the Trade Practices Act and its carrier licence conditions by
>> locking broadband competitors out of its telephone exchanges.
>> 
>> In the Federal Court in Melbourne this morning Justice John Middleton found
>> against the telecommunications giant, saying it contravened the act and its
>> licence on 27 occasions between July 2006 and April 2008.“
> 
> Good.  I never understood how they thought they'd be able to get away
> with saying to one party "no TEBA space left" while other ISPs whom
> had access were taking photos that would clearly call their bluff.  A
> penchant for hubris is apparently expensive.

One wonders though about the case against Telstra brought by ACCC. From the article:

"The ACCC had sought penalties of $40 million but Justice Middleton rejected such a large penalty and gave Telstra a 30 per cent discount on each breach.

"The ACCC has failed to prove any actual loss being sustained by the access seekers," Justice Middleton said.


No loss? Doubtless the devil is in the details.

Nick