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Outlawed by Amazon DRM

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Re: Outlawed by Amazon DRM

#61

Post by werid »

lancewiggs wrote: post #32
werid wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would Amazon.co.uk run "europe"? The europeans outside UK, FR or DE are forced to buy the international kindle from the US.

I assume for tax and logistics reasons. A search for "Amazon Europe" delivers an http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/gateway-eu . I'm making assumptions after that.

all international kindles are shipped from the US. ebooks must be bought from US too. the UK ebooks rights are ONLY for the UK, same with FR and DE. the US store handles american and international rights. other markets not quite big enough yet.

if you're thinking about physical books, that's wrong too. a book sold in both the US and UK shop will usually have a different publisher, so which one you get depends on where you ordered it, not where you live.

Re: Outlawed by Amazon DRM

#62

Post by _djo_ »

lancewiggs wrote: post #3

I wonder whether this is related to Linn living in Norway, purchasing from Amazon.com and somehow Amazon.co.uk are getting in the middle, perhaps because they run Europe from there. It's the game that many people play - trying to find the best Amazon (or Apple) store when they live and travel between countries. This means a constant struggle to find a combination of credit card, store with enough content (The US is b…

In my experience the Kindle store is typically only available at Amazon.com when buying from most other countries.

For instance in South Africa while I can buy physical items from both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, if I try to buy anything from the Kindle store on Amazon.co.uk I get told to go to Amazon.com instead.

Re: Outlawed by Amazon DRM

#63

Post by nodata »

jwr wrote: post #5

I treat all E-books purchased with DRM as rentals. When making a decision whether to buy or not, I look at the price and consider whether I'm willing to pay this much to rent the book for an indeterminate amount of time, possibly as little as 3 months. Quite often it turns out that the price is too high. But I never delude myself that I actually "own" any of the DRM-restricted content that I paid for.

> I treat all E-books purchased with DRM as rentals.

Good for you. Nobody else outside of HN does.

Re: Outlawed by Amazon DRM

#64

Post by andyjohnson0 »

Its getting to the point where I am seriously considering closing my Amazon account. I just don't like the way it does business any more. Can anyone recommend a good online bookseller in the UK? Is Waterstones any good?

The Guardian is running a story [1] today about how Amazon forces publishers to cover the cost of 20% VAT (sales tax) on ebook sales, even though it only pays 3% to the Luxembourg government (where it is based for tax purposes). It also insists that if a publisher offers a better price to another retailer then it must offer the same price to Amazon.

They also pay no corporation tax in the UK, despite sales of more than £3.3bn/yr [2], through being based in Luxembourg.

I was going to jump ship to The Book Depository, but Amazon bought them last year. Its hard to understand why this was allowed by the competition regulator, and it doesn't give me much confidence that the UK government has much interest in limiting their control of multiple markets.

[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/oct/21/amazon-forc...

[2] http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/apr/04/amazon-brit...

Re: Outlawed by Amazon DRM

#65

Post by rmc »

werid wrote: post #14
lancewiggs wrote: post #3

I wonder whether this is related to Linn living in Norway, purchasing from Amazon.com and somehow Amazon.co.uk are getting in the middle, perhaps because they run Europe from there. It's the game that many people play - trying to find the best Amazon (or Apple) store when they live and travel between countries. This means a constant struggle to find a combination of credit card, store with enough content (The US is b…

Why would Amazon.co.uk run "europe"? The europeans outside UK, FR or DE are forced to buy the international kindle from the US.

Seconded. I have a Kindle, I'm in Ireland. I have to use Amazon.com, not Amazon.co.uk. Amazon don't let you choose (unless you were to do fradulent things like use a fake address / credit card with other address etc.)

Re: Outlawed by Amazon DRM

#66

Post by rmc »

mysterywhiteboy wrote: post #26

The lack of transparency from Amazon here is worrying. Because it appears to be Amazon UK dealing with the account holder I'd be interested to know if she would get anywhere by submitting a Subject Information Request [1]. Under the Data Protection Act 1998 an individual can submit a request for personal information held by an organization and they must comply within 40 days. Whether she would get the information she…

Yes I was also thinking of the Data Protection Acts here aswell.

Whether she would get the information she is interested in, i.e. which account she is linked to, is another question.

Well if they don't provide it, they are breaking the law, so you can complain about them again that way.

Re: Outlawed by Amazon DRM

#67

Post by rmc »

AngryParsley wrote: post #12

First, it's important to note that we don't have very much information yet. Given what I've read so far, I assume stupidity on the part of Amazon. Before everyone starts hating on Amazon specifically, remember that this same thing would happen with Apple, Xbox Live, or Barnes & Noble accounts. It's not that all these companies want to have DRM. It's the content owners who dictate the terms of licensing.

I assume stupidity on the part of Amazon.

Oh I'm almost certain that this is stupidity, and not malice. (Why would amazon shut down an account of some regular person?)

However, the big problem is that "all the books you own" should be dependent on a massive company never acting stupid. The problem isn't stupidity/malice, the problem is that stupidity can have such a massive massive effect.

Re: Outlawed by Amazon DRM

#68

Post by jaachan »

techsupporter wrote: post #56

Tangentially related, I am getting very, very tired of "customer service" departments using phrases like: "While we are unable to provide detailed information on how we link related accounts, please know that we have reviewed your account on the basis of the information provided and regret to inform you that it will not be reopened." This happens more frequently: Google says this all the time, based on posts here; Am…

"While we are unable to provide detailed information on how we link related accounts" I don't think it means they don't know, I think it means they can't[1] "detail", i.e. tell you.

[1] Won't, of course.

Re: Outlawed by Amazon DRM

#69

Post by Tooluka »

Never ever buy e-books from Amazon, only physical books and things. Especially because all e-stuff on your Amazon account can be permanently deleted without any option to restore (except to buy it again).

Re: Outlawed by Amazon DRM

#70

Post by gizzlon »

netcan wrote: post #39
jwr wrote: post #5

I treat all E-books purchased with DRM as rentals. When making a decision whether to buy or not, I look at the price and consider whether I'm willing to pay this much to rent the book for an indeterminate amount of time, possibly as little as 3 months. Quite often it turns out that the price is too high. But I never delude myself that I actually "own" any of the DRM-restricted content that I paid for.

I treat all digital (-ly distributed) content as "rental." Most of the people I know do too... more or less. I treat all digital (-ly distributed) content as "rental." The reality is that "ownership" of digital property is different from ownership of physical property emotionally, legally and practically.

Even DRM-less? That makes no sense.

I agree on the DRM content though.. The problem is that most people will probably not.

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