Internet service providers in Australia have
been put on notice that their entire industry will be investigated for
financial improprieties, after a string of company failures had threatened
to wipe out their respectability.
The Australian Securities and Investments
Commission (ASIC), the corporate regulatory body, will conduct
inspections of every financial document held
by ISPs to determine the level of adherence to company laws.
An ASIC spokesperson said that three or four providers had already had
action taken against them for legal breaches.
The inspections come just after a series of highly public collapses by
medium-size providers, including Geko and Pronet.
Sydney-based Geko went under after racking up bills worth hundreds of
thousands of dollars with telecommunications providers early in this year,
while Pronet left many home users in Brisbane out of pocket when it crashed
several months ago.
