buying international ebooks?

diatis · 12-19-2011, 11:05 PM

hey,

i live in australia and want to buy a ebook which for some stupid reason is not available in my country. from a few quick google searches people seem to suggest setting up a fake u.s. amazon account and buying it that way, which i'm fine with, but i'm worried about it getting "locked out", i.e. based on my i.p. address amazon makes it unreadable, which i've seen reports of happening. is there a reliable workaround for this? if i get it into calibre is there some way i can preserve it to prevent it from getting locked out, stripping the drm or whatnot?

any suggestions appreciated. i'm sure this question has been asked a billion times but i've searched and i'm still at a loss.

thanks.

CRussel · 12-20-2011, 12:36 AM

Amazon does not block books by IP address. They couldn't care less where you are when you read the book. They sell it to you based on your Amazon account. If you have a US Amazon account with your Kindle registered to it, they'll sell you the book, regardless of your IP address. (After all, you could just be travelling and have run out of books.)

Jonas777 · 12-20-2011, 02:51 AM

Look for instructions on how to remove DRM. Should allow you to sleep well without worries about beeing locked out from the books. Even thou CRussel is probably right about Amazon won't care.

diatis · 12-20-2011, 08:19 AM

changing my address worked fine for buying it although i received an e-mail from amazon shortly afterward saying "we noticed you tried to purchase (book) while in a different country from the united states blah blah" but it works fine. stripped the drm regardless just to be sure. thanks for the responses.

Robmonster · 12-20-2011, 09:54 AM

I was actually advised by a Kindle support vhap on the phone to move my account to a US based address when I wanted to buy some of the Kindle Active content here in the UK.

Why is region restriction in place? Does anyone know?

Rob

readerbeagle · 12-20-2011, 10:45 AM

Contractual agreements exist with publishers for rights in different countries.

CRussel · 12-20-2011, 07:34 PM

readerbeagle is correct, in part. Publishers have agreements with specific rights for specific countries, and writer have contracts with specific rights abrogated to those publishers. But often those contracts do NOT include world-wide eBook rights, but possibly only for a particular country or region. So then a separate negotiation is required. Either between the publisher and Amazon, or the writer and the publisher, or sometimes a different publisher and Amazon. It can get very complicated.

Shopaholic · 12-20-2011, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diatis

changing my address worked fine for buying it although i received an e-mail from amazon shortly afterward saying "we noticed you tried to purchase (book) while in a different country from the united states blah blah" but it works fine. stripped the drm regardless just to be sure. thanks for the responses.

Careful with that! Unless you have a US credit card to go along with that US address you won't be able to buy very many books with your "US account". I'm in Canada & fortunately I have a US credit card.

Before adding my US card to my account, it stopped me after 5 or 6 books. I got the same message you did & it kept telling me to call customer service and wouldn't let me buy anymore. Including trying to get the free ones. As soon as I added my US card to go with my US address that message stopped.

HansTWN · 12-20-2011, 10:07 PM

I never had any problems using a foreign credit card at Amazon, but I do use a US VPN most of the time, just to be on the safe side. The only place it doesn't work is for the digital download services.

If someone really needs a US credit card with a US mailing address I suggest www.usunlocked.com. I have their card, and it works everywhere I tried it. I don't use this at Amazon, because there is an extra charge for using this card, so I only use it when it is necessary.

12-19-2011, 11:05 PM	#1
diatis Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: Kindle	buying international ebooks? hey, i live in australia and want to buy a ebook which for some stupid reason is not available in my country. from a few quick google searches people seem to suggest setting up a fake u.s. amazon account and buying it that way, which i'm fine with, but i'm worried about it getting "locked out", i.e. based on my i.p. address amazon makes it unreadable, which i've seen reports of happening. is there a reliable workaround for this? if i get it into calibre is there some way i can preserve it to prevent it from getting locked out, stripping the drm or whatnot? any suggestions appreciated. i'm sure this question has been asked a billion times but i've searched and i'm still at a loss. thanks.

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12-20-2011, 12:36 AM	#2
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,287 Karma: 80074820 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), Fire HD 8	Amazon does not block books by IP address. They couldn't care less where you are when you read the book. They sell it to you based on your Amazon account. If you have a US Amazon account with your Kindle registered to it, they'll sell you the book, regardless of your IP address. (After all, you could just be travelling and have run out of books.)

12-20-2011, 02:51 AM	#3
Jonas777 Groupie Posts: 153 Karma: 364 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Sweden Device: Amazon Kindle 2 Intl	Look for instructions on how to remove DRM. Should allow you to sleep well without worries about beeing locked out from the books. Even thou CRussel is probably right about Amazon won't care.

12-20-2011, 08:19 AM	#4
diatis Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: Kindle	changing my address worked fine for buying it although i received an e-mail from amazon shortly afterward saying "we noticed you tried to purchase (book) while in a different country from the united states blah blah" but it works fine. stripped the drm regardless just to be sure. thanks for the responses.

12-20-2011, 09:54 AM	#5
Robmonster Wizard! Posts: 250 Karma: 548228 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: UK Device: Paperwhite, Voyage + Oasis2	I was actually advised by a Kindle support vhap on the phone to move my account to a US based address when I wanted to buy some of the Kindle Active content here in the UK. Why is region restriction in place? Does anyone know? Rob

12-20-2011, 10:45 AM	#6
readerbeagle Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: kindle	Contractual agreements exist with publishers for rights in different countries.

12-20-2011, 07:34 PM	#7
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,287 Karma: 80074820 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), Fire HD 8	readerbeagle is correct, in part. Publishers have agreements with specific rights for specific countries, and writer have contracts with specific rights abrogated to those publishers. But often those contracts do NOT include world-wide eBook rights, but possibly only for a particular country or region. So then a separate negotiation is required. Either between the publisher and Amazon, or the writer and the publisher, or sometimes a different publisher and Amazon. It can get very complicated.

12-20-2011, 10:07 PM	#9
HansTWN Wizard Posts: 4,538 Karma: 264065402 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Taiwan Device: HP Touchpad, Sony Duo 13, Lumia 920, Kobo Aura HD	I never had any problems using a foreign credit card at Amazon, but I do use a US VPN most of the time, just to be on the safe side. The only place it doesn't work is for the digital download services. If someone really needs a US credit card with a US mailing address I suggest www.usunlocked.com. I have their card, and it works everywhere I tried it. I don't use this at Amazon, because there is an extra charge for using this card, so I only use it when it is necessary.

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