Microsoft ‘deliberately omitted’ AI-free option in 365 price rises, ACCC alleges
Josh Taylor
The Australian consumer watchdog has alleged Microsoft deliberately omitted an AI-free subscription option for Microsoft 365 in communications to 2.7 million Australians when it advised them of price increases as a result of Copilot being integrated into the software package.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has launched federal court action against Microsoft claiming the company has misled subscribers to Microsoft 365 personal and family plans with auto-renew enabled that if they want to maintain their subscription they must accept the integration of Copilot AI into the software and pay higher prices, or cancel their subscription.
The annual subscription price of the Microsoft 365 Personal plan increased by 45% from $109 to $159 with Copilot included. The annual subscription price for the Microsoft 365 Family plan increased by 29% from $139 to $179.
The regulator alleged this information was false or misleading as there was an undisclosed third option of “classic” plans which allowed subscribers to retain the features of existing plans without Copilot at the previous lower price.
Consumers were only presented this option when subscribers began cancelling their subscription, the ACCC alleges.
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Updated at 19.14 EDT
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Josh Taylor
Tech Council responds to AI copyright exception being ruled out
The Tech Council of Australia , whose chair Scott Farquhar was the most high-profile advocate for giving tech companies free access to people’s copyrighted works for training AI, has issued a one-line response to the Albanese government ruling out such an exemption in copyright law.
The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, explicitly ruled out a text and data mining exemption being included in amendments to copyright law to allow AI to mine copyrighted works without paying creators for the privilege in an announcement of a copyright and AI reference group that will explore how to pay creators for AI using their work.
Farquhar told the National Press Club that “fixing” the existing restrictions preventing AI being trained in Australia could “unlock billions of dollars of foreign investment” into Australia.
While the move to rule out an AI exception has been broadly welcomed by the media and arts sectors, the tech lobby group was more muted in its response to the announcement on Monday. A spokesperson said:
The TCA looks forward to participating in the reference group in coming days to help develop a framework which we hope will deliver certainty for AI training as well as for artists and creators.
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Monique Ryan introducing bill to enforce code of conduct around lobbying
Staying on lobbying, Monique Ryan is introducing her bill to the House this morning. The bill would help to strengthen and enforce a code of conduct around lobbying, publish ministerial diaries to show who ministers are meeting with, and stop ministers from being able to move to the private sector in an industry where they’ve held a portfolio.
She says Australia’s laws and enforcement on lobbying are lagging behind other OECD nations such as the UK and Canada.
She argues the major parties complain about lobbyists when they’re in opposition, but then won’t crack down on reforms when they’re in government.
They’re [major parties] conflicted because they accept the personal and political gains served up by the lobbying [industry] …
In November 2023, the voluntary register included 703 third-party, 40% of those were former politicians, ministerial advisers or public servants. They were profiting from their knowledge and the networks gained from their time spent here in their service to the public and funded by taxpayers.
Seconding her bill is fellow independent Kate Chaney:
Part of integrity and accountability in politics is understanding who is influencing our top decision-makers. We should know which lobbyists have access to ministers and cabinet.
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Updated at 19.39 EDT
Sarah Basford Canales
Independents urge more transparency around which lobbyists enter Parliament House
As we mentioned earlier this morning, the crossbench is proactively disclosing which lobbyist passes they sponsor to enter Parliament House as part of an initiative by ACT senator David Pocock.
The independents rallied at Parliament House earlier this morning to urge major party politicians to be transparent about their interactions and make public who they let into Canberra’s halls of power.
Pocock said he had been advocating for changes to lobbying pass disclosure rules for years but decided to take the issue into his own hands and create his own register. The senator said:
Lobbyists play an important part in our democracy, but the base level expectation should be that there is transparency around that.
Independent senator David Pocock and other crossbenchers speak to journalists at a press conference at Parliament House. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
So far, around 13 crossbenchers, including a One Nation senator, have disclosed how many passes they sponsor, and to who. The register has the names of 78 passholders.
No MPs from Labor, the Liberals, the Nationals or the Greens have yet to add their details to Pocock’s register.
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Updated at 19.35 EDT
Sarah Basford Canales
Coalition calls for inquiry into CFMEU administration
The Coalition are calling for an inquiry into the CFMEU administration after the Nine newspapers reported its efforts have been hampered by a lack of investigative capability.
This morning shadow industrial relations minister, Tim Wilson, was joined by Maria Kovacic, shadow assistant minister to the opposition leader, in publicly demanding the independent administrator and relevant officials to come before the parliament to answer a number of questions.
Kovacic said she would move for an inquiry in the Senate on Tuesday to examine the administration’s efforts so far.
In front of a handful of journalists at a press conference this morning, Wilson was asked about another elephant in the room – the opposition’s timeline on finalising its energy and emissions reduction policy.
Wilson answered:
My focus is on having net zero tolerance for corruption, on Australian corruption in construction sites, and that is the key difference between us and the Labor party right now.
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Updated at 19.24 EDT
Former Pauline Hanson adviser Sean Bell sworn into Senate
You might remember not too long ago, One Nation senator Warwick Stacey quit the party, just a month or so after being sworn in to the Senate due to health reasons.
His replacement, Sean Bell, has just sworn in now into the Senate. Bell is a former adviser to Pauline Hanson.
In the House this morning, pollies will be debating private members’ bills (including Monique Ryan’s bill to crack down on ministers and public servants going to work for lobbyists in their portfolio areas.)
Also up for debate there is Julian Leeser’s bill to introduce mandatory minimum sentences for child sexual abuse.
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Updated at 19.20 EDT
Scientists call for action on deforestation, as government negotiates on EPBC reforms
Graham Readfearn
More than 100 scientists and researchers have urged Anthony Albanese to tackle widespread deforestation that is driving an extinction crisis across the country when the government introduces legislation to revamp environment laws this week.
The environment minister, Murray Watt, wants to get the long-promised reforms to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act passed before Christmas but is facing a backlash from the Coalition and the Greens, who have both been critical of the changes.
In an open letter, coordinated by Greenpeace Australia Pacific, sent to Albanese and Watt, the scientists said:
Without meaningful reform, deforestation will continue to drive massive biodiversity loss.
Vast amounts of habitat are bulldozed each year with clearing for livestock and pasture a major culprit, but much of it happens outside the environment laws. The letter points to a loophole in the laws known as “continuous use” that allows landholders to keep clearing areas without the need to get an environmental approval.
Prof James Watson, a leading conservation scientist from the University of Queensland, said: “The large-scale destruction of Australia’s native woodlands, forests, wetlands and grasslands is the single biggest threat to our biodiversity.”
It’s driving an extinction crisis unlike anywhere else on Earth – and it’s threatening the Great Barrier Reef, one of the world’s seven natural wonders, right before our eyes.
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Updated at 19.13 EDT
Josh Taylor
Continuing from our last post …
ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said:
Following a detailed investigation, we will allege in court that Microsoft deliberately omitted reference to the classic plans in its communications and concealed their existence until after subscribers initiated the cancellation process to increase the number of consumers on more expensive Copilot-integrated plans.
The Microsoft Office apps included in 365 subscriptions are essential in many people’s lives and given there are limited substitutes to the bundled package, cancelling the subscription is a decision many would not make lightly.
Cass-Gottlieb said many customers would have opted for the classic plan if they had been aware of all the viable options.
The ACCC is seeking orders including penalties, injunctions, declarations, consumer redress and costs. The maximum penalty would be the greater of $50m, three times the total benefits that have been obtained and are reasonably attributable, or 30% of the corporation’s adjusted turnover during the breach turnover period.
Microsoft was approached for comment.
ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The GuardianShare
Updated at 19.00 EDT
Microsoft ‘deliberately omitted’ AI-free option in 365 price rises, ACCC alleges
Josh Taylor
The Australian consumer watchdog has alleged Microsoft deliberately omitted an AI-free subscription option for Microsoft 365 in communications to 2.7 million Australians when it advised them of price increases as a result of Copilot being integrated into the software package.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has launched federal court action against Microsoft claiming the company has misled subscribers to Microsoft 365 personal and family plans with auto-renew enabled that if they want to maintain their subscription they must accept the integration of Copilot AI into the software and pay higher prices, or cancel their subscription.
The annual subscription price of the Microsoft 365 Personal plan increased by 45% from $109 to $159 with Copilot included. The annual subscription price for the Microsoft 365 Family plan increased by 29% from $139 to $179.
The regulator alleged this information was false or misleading as there was an undisclosed third option of “classic” plans which allowed subscribers to retain the features of existing plans without Copilot at the previous lower price.
Consumers were only presented this option when subscribers began cancelling their subscription, the ACCC alleges.
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Updated at 19.14 EDT
Future frontbench spot unlikely for Joyce in Nationals
Sky News host Laura Jayes tries to test Littleproud on whether Barnaby Joyce would be granted a shadow portfolio before he quits.
Littleproud skirts the question and says the Nationals have “a very talented frontbench”. Pushed again on what would happen if Joyce decided to stay on with the Nats after the next election, Littleproud says “that’ll be a decision for Barnaby”.
On the question of net zero, Littleproud says Nationals senators Matt Canavan and Ross Cadell will talk to the party room today about their review of the policy – but wouldn’t give us a hint on how that conversation will go down.
Obviously it’s a complex piece of policy work, and while I would have liked it sorted out sooner. We need to get it right, and we just can’t rush it to the extent that we don’t have the right position, the right policy setting … but there’s still some way to go, and they’re [Canavan and Cadell] just going to continue to bring our party room and make sure that we understand the principles of where they’re getting to from the analysis that they found, and that will be updated today again in the party room.
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Updated at 18.51 EDT
Littleproud says Nationals need to create ‘an environment where Barnaby feels welcome’
It’s not the first time a National has sat outside the party room, says David Littleproud, who is facing a bit of damage control over Barnaby Joyce’s future.
Joyce said this morning he will remain in the party (for now) but won’t sit in when the party room meets this week. He won’t be contesting the next election for the Nationals in the NSW seat of New England (and had remained coy about whether he’ll run for a different party and for a different house).
On Sky News, Littleproud says his party has to create an “environment” where Joyce feels welcome and wants to come back.
I‘ve been here for nearly a decade, I’ve seen this happen two or three times, where members feel aggrieved they’ve sat outside the party room, but obviously support our side … what we’ve got to do is continue to create an environment where Barnaby feels welcome and wants to come back and can contribute.
Nationals leader David Littleproud. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare
Updated at 18.38 EDT
Caitlin Cassidy
University leaders travel to China to herald ‘new era’ in Australian relations
Universities Australia (UA) is setting off on a delegation to China on Monday to strengthen education and research partnerships with the superpower amid a more favourable diplomatic climate.
Described by the peak body as one of the “most significant higher education missions in years”, the five-day visit is being attended by UA chair Prof Carolyn Evans, its CEO Luke Sheehy and almost a dozen vice-chancellors and university representatives.
The delegation will visit Shenzhen and Beijing, where they will attend the inaugural Australia-China Leaders Dialogue, held alongside the renewal of the UA-China Education Association for International Exchange Memorandum of Understanding.
Evans said education had been one of the “strongest and most stable bridges” between Australia and China.
After years of disruption caused by the pandemic and broader geopolitical issues, this visit marks the start of a new era – one focused on innovation, collaboration and solving shared challenges.
China continues to be the leading source country for international students in Australia, making up 23% of all enrolments. The federal government has recently signalled that universities must diversify their international student cohort if they are to enjoy higher enrolment numbers, with a particular focus on students from south-east Asia.
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Updated at 18.21 EDT
Monique Ryan pushes for code of conduct for lobbyists
Independent MP Monique Ryan will introduce a bill today to stop bureaucrats and politicians working as lobbyists as soon as they leave politics.
Parliament will start sitting at 10am today and Mondays are always allocated to private members’ bills (which also means the government has carved out some time for debate on Barnaby Joyce’s repeal net zero bill because it’s politically convenient for Labor).
Ryan told RN Breakfast this morning her bill will introduce a code of conduct for lobbyists, will strengthen the lobbying code, publish ministerial diaries so the public can see who ministers are meeting with, and stop ministers and public servants going to work for lobbyists.
Member for the seat of Kooyong, Monique Ryan. Photograph: Diego Fedele/EPA
She namechecks the former Liberal defence minister Christopher Pyne going to work as a lobbyist in the defence industry within “nine days of leaving parliament” as well as former foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop.
Ryan says under the current framework, ministers can’t work in an industry where they’ve had a field of interest for 12 months, “but it’s unenforced”. She says it’s the same with the lobbying code of conduct, and movement of public servants into industries where they’ve had decision-making powers “within weeks or months of leaving government” – both are unenforced.
The potential for conflict of interest in decision-making and for people using the context that they’ve made while they’re in parliament to further their own careers in a way that gives them a commercial advantage, if you like, or for decisions to be made before they leave government with the expectation that there’s some sort of golden handshake after they leave government is corrosive of people’s trust in the integrity and transparency of government.
It’s unlikely Ryan’s bill will go anywhere though – private members’ bills are rarely supported by government.
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Updated at 18.00 EDT
Greens say environment laws skew too far in favour of businesses and need to protect native forests
While the Coalition is calling for the EPBC Act to be split, the Greens have some other key demands for Murray Watt.
On ABC News Breakfast a little earlier, Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the laws skew too much in favour of businesses – “these are meant to be environment protection laws not business approval laws.”
The Greens want to see stronger protections for forests, which she says already aren’t covered.
We want to make sure these laws protect our forests and protect our climate … our existing environmental laws don’t even cover native forests. So you can go into a native forest, it can get logged even if there are endangered species there.
We want to fix that, we want to make sure that can’t happen.
The minor party has also been calling for a “climate trigger” which would force projects to be assessed on their emissions and climate impacts. The government has refused to include a trigger in its bill.
Both sides haven’t shut down further negotiations with the government on the legislation – so far neither the Greens nor the Coalition have seen the full bill – but Hanson-Young said she has some major concerns.
What we’re seeing so far from the government is they’re trying to have it both ways and talk out of both sides of their mouth.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare
Updated at 17.44 EDT
Butler announces cost cuts for contraceptives
Perhaps somewhat under the radar while the very vocal environment debate takes place, there are some changes happening in the health space this week.
Mark Butler has announced a contraceptive vaginal ring and other long-acting contraceptives like IUDs will be added to the pharmaceutical benefits scheme (making them way cheaper) from 1 November. Earlier this year the government also announced the listing of some contraceptive pills and menopausal hormone therapies.
1 November will also see new bulk-billing incentives kick in for GPs – which Butler told RN Breakfast a little earlier, should make three-quarters of general practices “financially better off”.
Already we have had hundreds and hundreds of practices tell us that this week they’re charging a gap fee, next week they’ll move to fully bulk billing, and those numbers are changing every single day. So, we expect a really significant change in bulk-billing practice from this week to next week. It will build over time.
The government has committed to 90% of GP visits being bulk-billed over the next decade.
An IUD birth control coil device. Photograph: flocu/Getty Images/iStockphotoShare
Updated at 18.38 EDT
