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Originally Posted by Arek_W
ok, I do follow but than SONY is not a publisher, just retailer. Why not apply same logic?
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That's where e-books veer off the traditional bookseller path. Sony isn't the publisher, but it isn't just a dealer, either. It's kind of acting like a combined printer/distributor/dealer (except the distributor only has one customer). It's a whole new contract. If the publisher only holds US e-rights, they're obligated to pass that restriction on, because everyone gets queasy when it comes to bits instead of physical units. With "piracy" being such a hot button in the e-world, the last thing a publisher, Sony, or Amazon wants is to be accused of copyright violation.
Eventually, I'm hoping the whole regional restriction thing will just go away. It's completely outmoded in the digital realm. Unfortunately, even if it changed tomorrow, it still wouldn't change the hopeless tangle of rights for everything that's already in play.