Aussie Small companies fear oppression
Aussie Small companies fear oppression
Small companies in Australia are worried about being exploited by bigger companies, such as Microsoft, which they claim steal their customers so that they can sell other products to specially selected companies.
AfterDark Technology, based in Brisbane, says that reforms to Section 46 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 do not do enough to protect small companies, like itself, from the predatory practices currently conducted by larger businesses.
AfterDark Technology believes that it is caught in a Catch 22 situation, where it feels obligated to send their client details to Microsoft when selling Microsoft software, because of licensing constraints.
These details are then used by Microsoft to make direct contact with the client despite a publicly announced privacy policy.
Peter Davies, the managing director of AfterDark Technology, said: "We invest in our customers to build a relationship and provide solutions for their network needs. We are finding that Microsoft is using the information given for the licence requirements to contact our customers and offer them software licensing under "special agreements" (known as Select Agreements) that Microsoft will not make available for us.
"Microsoft is able to undersell its own licensed agents thereby effectively manoeuvring companies like ourselves out of the market.
"We are using the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to investigate how these major IT companies are restricting the competition through a lack of transparency in their licensing agreements."
"Big businesses are oppressing smaller businesses by restricting their trade opportunities and abusing their market power in order to gain customers and clients."
Davies added that Microsoft has held the company back in its ability to provide additional pricing breaks that its customers qualify for.
"Microsoft contacts the customer and through the promotion of discounts that Microsoft will not grant to smaller companies like us entices that customer to purchase through alternate suppliers that Microsoft does support."
"We then lose business we have developed over the long term to a larger organisation that is in favour with Microsoft. We are being used to locate a client and build a relationship which is undermined by the larger company."
Nobody at Microsoft was available at this time to comment.
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