MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - What do you think about circumventing geographic restrictions?

cromag · 02-23-2015, 12:07 AM

I don't do it, but I'm in the US where the available selection means it's not as big a factor.

But, I would like to point out that circumventing geo restrictions is commonplace for physical products. One case: A few years ago I was looking for a specific music album -- Evergreen Vol. 2, by the Stone Poneys, Linda Ronstadt's first band. A limited release had been made in the US, it sold out immediately, and "used" copies on Amazon were priced at several hundred dollars. The album was available as MP3s in Europe, but the MP3s were geo-restricted so I couldn't buy them. But, the album had been released as a CD in Australia as part of a 2-CD set. There was a vendor offering the Australian CD sets on Amazon (US) for about what a "domestic" double CD set would have cost. So I bought the album on Amazon (US) even though Amazon (US) couldn't sell it to me.

Nothing immoral about it, just insanely stoopid.

02-23-2015, 12:07 AM	#44
cromag Surfin the alpha waves ~~ Posts: 26,475 Karma: 459765791 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: New Jersey Device: Jetbook Lite & Mini, Nook STR, Kobo, Hanvon N516, Kindle 2, Androids	I don't do it, but I'm in the US where the available selection means it's not as big a factor. But, I would like to point out that circumventing geo restrictions is commonplace for physical products. One case: A few years ago I was looking for a specific music album -- Evergreen Vol. 2, by the Stone Poneys, Linda Ronstadt's first band. A limited release had been made in the US, it sold out immediately, and "used" copies on Amazon were priced at several hundred dollars. The album was available as MP3s in Europe, but the MP3s were geo-restricted so I couldn't buy them. But, the album had been released as a CD in Australia as part of a 2-CD set. There was a vendor offering the Australian CD sets on Amazon (US) for about what a "domestic" double CD set would have cost. So I bought the album on Amazon (US) even though Amazon (US) couldn't sell it to me. Nothing immoral about it, just insanely stoopid. Last edited by cromag; 02-23-2015 at 02:59 AM. Reason: Took too long composing this and darryl (from Australia!) covered it.