Quote:
Originally Posted by taming
Eric, have you noticed the problems we are having getting things like Pandora or the sub-par version of Netflix available here--getting anything like that is very, very difficult because of Canadian regulations. Amazon had a huge struggle getting permission to build a warehouse here, and was only granted permission in the spring of 2010.
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I'm not saying I disagree. It's obvious companies are not selling in Canada. I'm just saying I don't understand why they don't. It's not the taxes, which is what most people think. The big hurdle should be the books (or other "content", because you need a Canadian presence to sell them--and this explains Netflix too). Once companies like Amazon have passed that hurdle (they are allowed to sell books in Canada), selling all the other things they sell at amazon.com through their Canadian site should be trivial. Yet they don't do it. It's baffling.
As for content sales and Canadian presence, this brings another concern into the picture: if Kobo is foreign owned, will they continue to be able to sell in Canada? My understanding is so long as their officies remain here they can sell to us. But if the new foreign parent decides to close to Toronto office, then bye bye to your ability to buy books direct on your Kobo. Everything may need to be side-loaded.
I was about to buy a new Kobo. Now I'm going to wait and see what happens. Who knows, this entire sale might be cancelled by the government. It wouldn't be the first time a foreign buy-out was squashed.