Quote:
Originally Posted by joehunt
Unfortunately with ebooks, you are only buying a license to read the book (unlike an outright purchase of paperbacks). Publishers/authors buy/sell rights to distribute these "licenses" in different parts of the world, making it a bit of a mish mash where you can and can't buy certain ebooks.
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That's not quite right. Geographic restrictions apply equally to ebooks and traditional books. It's just that it has never been worth the effort of enforcing the restrictions for paper books. It's impractical for a bookstore to check the residency of its customers. And the number of books sold cross-border by on-line vendors has been relatively small, compared to the total volume of sales. But that's not the case with ebooks, which is why the publishers try to enforce the restrictions.
This has got nothing to do with the idea of purchasing a licence to read a book. Rather, the geographic restriction is part of the contract between publisher and author - and is designed partly to protect the author's interests.
I'm not defending the geographic restrictions. I dislike them as much as most other other people. But it does help to understand the reasons they exist. It is certainly not the case - as Kunok posted above - that they are "technicalities made up by lawyers or lawmakers who spend too much time creating problems for other people."
Mike