Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book General > General Discussions

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 09-15-2010, 11:53 PM   #1
thekrunkymonkey
Junior Member
thekrunkymonkey began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 1
Karma: 10
Join Date: Sep 2010
Device: ipod
ebook territorial work around??????

I have read through the forums looking for some way that i can legitimately buy ebooks not currently available to the Austrlaian market and whilst many people make reference to 'work arounds' that they allegedly use successfully, NO-ONE has acually detailed what these involve!
I don't want to pirate the damn books (although this is looking like the only possible way I can obtain the damn things in this backwater of a country) I want to purchase and read them.
All help appreciated.
Thanks!
thekrunkymonkey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-16-2010, 12:16 AM   #2
desertgrandma
Enjoying the show....
desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
desertgrandma's Avatar
 
Posts: 14,270
Karma: 10462841
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Arizona
Device: A K1, Kindle Paperwhite, an Ipod, IPad2, Iphone, an Ipad Mini & macAir
Welcome to MobileRead, thekrunkymonkey.

Perhaps some of your Australian countrymen will be able to help.

If you don't get answers soon, try re-posting in the Apple devices forum......and don't forget about the free books available here!

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=170
desertgrandma is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-16-2010, 05:55 AM   #3
neilmarr
neilmarr
neilmarr ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.neilmarr ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.neilmarr ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.neilmarr ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.neilmarr ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.neilmarr ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.neilmarr ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.neilmarr ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.neilmarr ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.neilmarr ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.neilmarr ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
neilmarr's Avatar
 
Posts: 7,216
Karma: 6000059
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Monaco-Menton, France
Device: sony
Good to have your company, TheKrunkyMonkey. I sympathise with the current problems Down Under. Pop into the bookstore section of my own indie publishing site (link below) and email me if a couple of titles catch your eye. Many by Oz authors and set in Oz. Just email me the titles and your preferred format and I'll be happy to send them along with our compliments. Might help tide you over until the big boys get their act together. Best wishes. Neil -- ntmarrATbewrite.net (but use the @ sign)
Attached Images
 
neilmarr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-16-2010, 01:27 PM   #4
meromana
Zealot
meromana can tame squirrels without the assistance of a chair or a whip.meromana can tame squirrels without the assistance of a chair or a whip.meromana can tame squirrels without the assistance of a chair or a whip.meromana can tame squirrels without the assistance of a chair or a whip.meromana can tame squirrels without the assistance of a chair or a whip.meromana can tame squirrels without the assistance of a chair or a whip.meromana can tame squirrels without the assistance of a chair or a whip.meromana can tame squirrels without the assistance of a chair or a whip.meromana can tame squirrels without the assistance of a chair or a whip.meromana can tame squirrels without the assistance of a chair or a whip.meromana can tame squirrels without the assistance of a chair or a whip.
 
meromana's Avatar
 
Posts: 129
Karma: 11430
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: NC, USA
Device: my laptop
Have you checked Smashwords? They have books available in a lot of generic erreader formats, and I know they represent a lot of international authors. Plenty of freebies, too.

--Maria
meromana is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-16-2010, 04:04 PM   #5
kiwipippa
Fanatic
kiwipippa ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kiwipippa ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kiwipippa ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kiwipippa ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kiwipippa ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kiwipippa ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kiwipippa ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kiwipippa ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kiwipippa ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kiwipippa ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kiwipippa ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
kiwipippa's Avatar
 
Posts: 578
Karma: 613022
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: New Zealand
Device: kobo glo, kobo touch (dead), kindle touch, android phone
Quote:
Originally Posted by thekrunkymonkey View Post
I have read through the forums looking for some way that i can legitimately buy ebooks not currently available to the Austrlaian market and whilst many people make reference to 'work arounds' that they allegedly use successfully, NO-ONE has acually detailed what these involve!
I don't want to pirate the damn books (although this is looking like the only possible way I can obtain the damn things in this backwater of a country) I want to purchase and read them.
All help appreciated.
Thanks!
I'm in the same boat as I'm in New Zealand. Geographic restrictions are driving me crazy. The books I want to buy are not available at Smashwords. WH Smiths have a great selection - but UK only. I am willing to PAY MONEY but no one wants to take it! Does anyone know if kindle and amazon have similar geographic restrictions? Because if they don't I am seriously considering getting one and keeping my kobo for library books (which I CAN borrow irrespective of where I am, but the waiting lists are so long). Geographic isolation went out when the jet was invented, why do publishers insist in bringing it back in again!
kiwipippa is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-16-2010, 04:38 PM   #6
geertm
Guru
geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 822
Karma: 2000000
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: The Netherlands
Device: Kobo Aura One
Quote:
Originally Posted by kiwipippa View Post
I'm in the same boat as I'm in New Zealand. Geographic restrictions are driving me crazy. The books I want to buy are not available at Smashwords. WH Smiths have a great selection - but UK only. I am willing to PAY MONEY but no one wants to take it! Does anyone know if kindle and amazon have similar geographic restrictions? Because if they don't I am seriously considering getting one and keeping my kobo for library books (which I CAN borrow irrespective of where I am, but the waiting lists are so long). Geographic isolation went out when the jet was invented, why do publishers insist in bringing it back in again!
Amazon also has geo-restrictions. If you go to the Kindle store in the left top corner you can choose your region. That way you can check which books are available for your region.

How to circumvent geo-restrictions:
If you need a US VPN a lot of people use Hotspot Shield (free) or AlwaysVPN ($8.50). I use AlwaysVPN myself.
To get a US or UK address just google a valid address. If you want to use an address that you "own" you can use a mail forwarding address from sites like for example Borderlinx.

Fictionwise: Register your account with a US address. Use that same address as billing address for your credit card.
In a very few cases you will get a credit card check on your bookshelf instead of a download link. In that case download the book using www.hidemyass.com. I assume that a VPN would also work.

Kobobooks: Register your account with a US address. Use that same address as billing address for you credit card. I did not need a VPN.

B&N: Register you account with a US address. Use that same address as billing address for your credit card. You will also have to use a VPN (no VPN needed when in Canada).
B&N uses its own ePub DRM. So you need an e-reader like the Nook, or one of the B&N software readers to read the books.

Other US bookstores: Try registering your account with an US address and using that address as the credit card billing address. In a lot af cases this will probably work. If it fails try to use a VPN.

The new WH Smith UK store (www.whsmith.co.uk):
Last saturday I was able to buy books by registering my account with an UK address and using that address as billing address for my credit card.
I do not know if this still works.
geertm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-17-2010, 04:33 AM   #7
AlexBell
Wizard
AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
AlexBell's Avatar
 
Posts: 3,413
Karma: 13369310
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Launceston, Tasmania
Device: Sony PRS T3, Kobo Glo, Kindle Touch, iPad, Samsung SB 2 tablet
Thanks for that very useful information, Geert. But I'm afraid I don't understand what VPN means - a google search brought up lots of sites about Virtual Private Networks, but that doesn't seem to fit.

Regards, Alex
AlexBell is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-17-2010, 08:26 AM   #8
geertm
Guru
geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 822
Karma: 2000000
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: The Netherlands
Device: Kobo Aura One
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexBell View Post
Thanks for that very useful information, Geert. But I'm afraid I don't understand what VPN means - a google search brought up lots of sites about Virtual Private Networks, but that doesn't seem to fit.

Regards, Alex
A VPN is indeed a Virtual Private Network. The VPN builds a secure tunnel from your PC to the VPN server in the US. When the VPN is active all your internet traffic goes trough the VPN tunnel to the VPN server in the US, and from that server to the website.
The website (for example B&N) sees the end of the tunnel (the VPN server in the US) as your IP-address. so according to the IP-address check of the website you are someone in the US.

A VPN like alwaysVPN is completely pre-configured. You just have to download and install the software, you do not need any network knowledge. To connect you just type in your VPN username and password, and the software creates the VPN connection for you.
After the VPN is started you can use the internet just like you are used to. But all your internet traffic will first go to the US VPN server and from there to the website.
geertm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-17-2010, 09:10 AM   #9
wallflower75
Groupie
wallflower75 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallflower75 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallflower75 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallflower75 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallflower75 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallflower75 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallflower75 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallflower75 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallflower75 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallflower75 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallflower75 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
wallflower75's Avatar
 
Posts: 176
Karma: 223852
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Illinois
Device: Kindle Voyage/iPhone 6 Plus/iPad mini
Two things:

Does using a VPN site work at Amazon's UK site? Also--are there any free VPN sites that work? Because I don't buy enough UK ebooks to make paying a monthly fee for the service worth my while, and I tried using a freebie VPN server before but it didn't work.
wallflower75 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-17-2010, 09:36 AM   #10
geertm
Guru
geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 822
Karma: 2000000
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: The Netherlands
Device: Kobo Aura One
Quote:
Originally Posted by wallflower75 View Post
Two things:

Does using a VPN site work at Amazon's UK site? Also--are there any free VPN sites that work? Because I don't buy enough UK ebooks to make paying a monthly fee for the service worth my while, and I tried using a freebie VPN server before but it didn't work.
I have no Kindle, so I do know nothing about the Amazon UK site.

The only free UK VPN I know is www.SecurityKiss.com
geertm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-18-2010, 04:36 AM   #11
AlexBell
Wizard
AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AlexBell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
AlexBell's Avatar
 
Posts: 3,413
Karma: 13369310
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Launceston, Tasmania
Device: Sony PRS T3, Kobo Glo, Kindle Touch, iPad, Samsung SB 2 tablet
Thanks again, Geert.

Regards, Alex
AlexBell is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-18-2010, 08:21 AM   #12
geertm
Guru
geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 822
Karma: 2000000
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: The Netherlands
Device: Kobo Aura One
I have just bought some books from the new WH Smith store, so I can confirm that at the moment using an UK address as account address and credit card billing address still works to circumvent the geo-restrictions.
geertm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-18-2010, 08:27 AM   #13
GeoffC
Chocolate Grasshopper ...
GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
GeoffC's Avatar
 
Posts: 27,600
Karma: 20821184
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Scotland
Device: Muse HD , Cybook Gen3 , Pocketbook 302 (Black) , Nexus 10: wife has PW
thekrunkymonkey

Welcome to mobileread ....
GeoffC is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2010, 04:36 AM   #14
waxwing
Junior Member
waxwing began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 8
Karma: 10
Join Date: Oct 2010
Device: Hanvon N618
I know this thread is a couple of weeks old, but I'd just like to throw out there how bewildered I am about these recommendations: what's the point of using a VPN to pretend that you're in the US/UK, enter a US/UK address and then enter a US billing address for your credit card if you don't have any such credit card (i.e. a credit card registered with a US billing address)? If you did have such a thing, these georestrictions are easy to get round right? Aren't we talking about people who don't have a US credit card here?

By the way I have a VPN on all the time (I "seem" to be in the US), so if there is actual solution based on this I'd love to hear it!
waxwing is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2010, 12:16 PM   #15
geertm
Guru
geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.geertm ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 822
Karma: 2000000
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: The Netherlands
Device: Kobo Aura One
Quote:
Originally Posted by waxwing View Post
I know this thread is a couple of weeks old, but I'd just like to throw out there how bewildered I am about these recommendations: what's the point of using a VPN to pretend that you're in the US/UK, enter a US/UK address and then enter a US billing address for your credit card if you don't have any such credit card (i.e. a credit card registered with a US billing address)? If you did have such a thing, these georestrictions are easy to get round right? Aren't we talking about people who don't have a US credit card here?

By the way I have a VPN on all the time (I "seem" to be in the US), so if there is actual solution based on this I'd love to hear it!
Most bookstores with geo-restrictions only sell e-books to people with an US billing address, but they do accept international credit cards. They do not verify the actual billing address of the credit card with the credit card company, they just accept the address you type in yourself.
So in my case I have a Dutch Visa card with a Dutch billing address and I use that card to buy books at B&N using a US billing address in my account.
This way people like me without a US credit card are still able to buy e-books.

In the case of B&N even people from the US that do have an US credit card have to use a VPN if they want to buy books when they are outside the US because of the IP-address check.
geertm is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
K4 Mac or PC Kindle for PC - ebook download doesn't work leo315 Amazon Kindle 9 11-10-2010 12:07 PM
Classic Indigo ebook to work on Nook elhepilot Barnes & Noble NOOK 3 08-24-2010 10:36 AM
Ebook Stores that Work with the PP? Blossom Astak EZReader 36 05-23-2010 06:51 PM
Why doesn't eBook library 3.0 work? mgmueller Sony Reader 30 09-20-2009 12:38 PM
eBook Won't Work on Satellite Internet mschermer Sony Reader 2 03-14-2009 11:02 AM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 11:31 AM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.