Soon, overseas companies will have to collect goods and services tax at 10 per cent a pop on "online intangibles" or digital goods and hand it over to the Aussie government.
This is the "Netflix tax" which has been on the cards for a while now, and it extends tosoftware, music, movies and ebooks. Joe Hockey, the Australian Treasurer, believes GST on digital goods will bring in A$350 million ($377 million) over four years starting in July.
Details of how the Netflix tax will be implemented are thin on the ground - Hockey said the Australian government will consult extensively with the industry, which indicates they don't really know how to do it.
Don't be surprised if the Netflix tax appears in New Zealand as well, perhaps next year, as the Australians will seek support from other countries to make the likes of Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Apple et al collect GST.
It shouldn't be problematic for the online giants to collect either, but consumers in Australia who are regularly slugged with much higher prices for the same digital goods that their US counterparts buy and which are delivered over the internet probably won't like another 10 per cent added on top.
Note that the GST extension does not apply to imported physical goods worth less than A$1000. Collecting GST on those items would cost more than it would reap, which makes you wonder about New Zealand's low $400 threshold for when the tax is payable.
The effects of GST on digital goods and the crackdown on multinationals shifting their profits around the world to avoid taxation represent old-fashioned nation states fighting back against the new, virtual world economy.
Because regulating the internet is easy and always works, right?
Put Chorus on a fibre diet Two things stick out like sore thumbs in the Chorus wholesale charges issue:
• It's 2015 and 95 per cent of us are still on copper broadband.
• The ultrafast broadband fibre (UFB) project, going since 2009, is mostly deployed by Chorus.
Could those two be connected somehow? The copper network was paid for decades ago and is there already. Not so with the UFB.
Speaking to broadband providers, I'm told that they can't get enough UFB connections to meet customer demand for them.
Dealing with Chorus is described by the providers as a nightmare, with many phone calls and emails needed before connection installations start and wait times are several months long.
It's difficult to verify how efficient Chorus is in connecting people to the UFB, although the 95 per cent on copper figure indicates the process isn't happening terribly quickly.
Since the UFB is taxpayer-funded, an understanding of how long it takes Chorus to connect customers to the shiny new national broadband network is in order.
Add to that a review of the connection and installation processes to make them faster, cheaper and more efficient. Other UFB network operators don't seem to be as slow, so maybe Chorus can learn from their methods?
Once that's done, let Chorus have the 80 per cent increase in copper wholesale charges to encourage everyone to move to the UFB. Not before.
The Bose QuietComfort 25 noise cancelling headphones have a good sound.
Bose is a familiar name for audiophiles and the company has created often unusual, quirky products for decades.
Not so much with the QuietComfort 25 that are pretty straightforward, and possibly some of the best noise-cancelling headphones currently available.
I was sent a QC25 set for Apple iPhones and there's a model for Samsung and other Android phones as well - the microphone and remote control for answering and making calls, and for the music player, are different.
An adapter for the airline connectors is also provided with the QC25, along with a sturdy albeit large hard case for the headset.
The QC25 cost quite a bit, $479 including GST but they're very good. The noise cancellation is amazing, to the point that it takes a while to get used to the eerie feeling of the sounds of the outside world disappearing.
This makes the QC25s great on planes and public transport, but be careful walking around with them on.
Despite the advanced electronics, the QC25s are compact, lightweight and very comfortable to wear. Sound leakage is moderate too.
Note that the QC25s are not wireless , which may seem a drawback, but the headphones will play even after the battery dies which Bose says is after 35 hours of listening time; I didn't get that much time, but that could be the batteries I used.
I was quite happy with the sound from the QC25s, which is clear and has good definition, with decent bass response. The integration with the iPhone worked well, too.
The headphones do sound very different without batteries, though, presumably as the built-in active equalisation stops working too. When the battery is low, there's also annoying sound dropouts from the QC25s, so carry spare cells.
Overall, the Bose QuietComfort 25 headphones live up to expectations, with great noise cancellation, good sound and excellent comfort.
