MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - eBooks from Waterstones.com longer selling eBooks outside of the UK and Eire

neilmarr · 10-26-2010, 07:23 AM

I'm sorry that I spotted this thread from AprilHare just after I opened a new thread of my own on the same lines. I've asked our mods to remove it. Instead, here's my own OP. Apologies and best wishes. Neil

I just had this note through from Waterstones two minutes ago. And note that the ban is backdated to six days before this letter was sent out. Unbloodybelievable!

I use a Sony in France. Outside the US, I can't access the Sony Store, so I've always been re-directed to B&N and Waterstones. Now Waterstones is slamming the door on ebook readers outside the UK and Eire. The reason, they claim, complex georestrictions. What utter bollox!

Is the industry determined to drive 'double-foreigners' (neither US nor UK residents ... or Irishmen, come to that) to 'alternative' means of acquisition?

From: info [mailto:info@waterstones.com]
Sent: 26 October 2010 12:54
To: info
Subject: eBooks from Waterstones.com

Dear Customer,

We see from our records that you have previously purchased an eBook from Waterstones.com whilst having a registered address outside of the UK and Ireland.

We regret that as of 20th October 2010, we are no longer able to sell eBooks to customers placing an order from anywhere outside of the UK and Ireland. We have had to take this action to comply with the legal demands of publishers regarding the territories into which we can sell eBooks.

Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience that this may cause.

Please note: Your previously purchased eBooks are not affected by this and will still be available in your ‘Digital order history’ in your online account.

Kind regards,

Waterstones.com Customer Service

And don't be so ready to blame the publishers, folks. Sure the Big Five are sometimes in a sticky position with country-specific deals with agents and authors on individual titles, but there are hundreds of smaller publishing houses, like my own, that hold international rights to all its treebooks and ebooks.

No problems for us elsewhere. This is a matter of a store writing off whole nations of ebook readers because they don't feel it's worth their bother to cope with the legal issues that might be involved in sorting georestrictions on some titles by some publishers. Neil

10-26-2010, 07:23 AM	#32
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,215 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	I'm sorry that I spotted this thread from AprilHare just after I opened a new thread of my own on the same lines. I've asked our mods to remove it. Instead, here's my own OP. Apologies and best wishes. Neil I just had this note through from Waterstones two minutes ago. And note that the ban is backdated to six days before this letter was sent out. Unbloodybelievable! I use a Sony in France. Outside the US, I can't access the Sony Store, so I've always been re-directed to B&N and Waterstones. Now Waterstones is slamming the door on ebook readers outside the UK and Eire. The reason, they claim, complex georestrictions. What utter bollox! Is the industry determined to drive 'double-foreigners' (neither US nor UK residents ... or Irishmen, come to that) to 'alternative' means of acquisition? From: info [mailto:info@waterstones.com] Sent: 26 October 2010 12:54 To: info Subject: eBooks from Waterstones.com Dear Customer, We see from our records that you have previously purchased an eBook from Waterstones.com whilst having a registered address outside of the UK and Ireland. We regret that as of 20th October 2010, we are no longer able to sell eBooks to customers placing an order from anywhere outside of the UK and Ireland. We have had to take this action to comply with the legal demands of publishers regarding the territories into which we can sell eBooks. Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience that this may cause. Please note: Your previously purchased eBooks are not affected by this and will still be available in your ‘Digital order history’ in your online account. Kind regards, Waterstones.com Customer Service And don't be so ready to blame the publishers, folks. Sure the Big Five are sometimes in a sticky position with country-specific deals with agents and authors on individual titles, but there are hundreds of smaller publishing houses, like my own, that hold international rights to all its treebooks and ebooks. No problems for us elsewhere. This is a matter of a store writing off whole nations of ebook readers because they don't feel it's worth their bother to cope with the legal issues that might be involved in sorting georestrictions on some titles by some publishers. Neil