How are geographic restrictions affecting you?

[geertm]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Which one can you recommend?

Until now I have found no bookstore that checks the billing address at the credit card company (perhaps credit card transactions are cheaper that way?).

At Fictionwise, Kobobooks and B&N you can use any valid USA address as billing address of your non-USA credit card (for B&N you will also have to use a VPN like Hotspot Shield or alwaysVPN).

Usually registering your account with an USA shipping and billing address is enough to buy books at an USA bookstore.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Which one can you recommend?

I use EntroPay, and have had no problems with it. They take 5% as processing fee.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by geertm

Until now I have found no bookstore that checks the billing address at the credit card company (perhaps credit card transactions are cheaper that way?).

At Fictionwise, Kobobooks and B&N you can use any valid USA address as billing address of your non-USA credit card (for B&N you will also have to use a VPN like Hotspot Shield or alwaysVPN).

Usually registering your account with an USA shipping and billing address is enough to buy books at an USA bookstore.

So far, that has been my experience too. It's been a year, and no problems.

Stitchawl

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by geertm

Until now I have found no bookstore that checks the billing address at the credit card company (perhaps credit card transactions are cheaper that way?).

At Fictionwise, Kobobooks and B&N you can use any valid USA address as billing address of your non-USA credit card (for B&N you will also have to use a VPN like Hotspot Shield or alwaysVPN).

Usually registering your account with an USA shipping and billing address is enough to buy books at an USA bookstore.

That is how I have been doing it, I think the only thing they check is that the Zip code is valid. I am, however, looking ahead and thinking about what to do when things get tougher. I have read that Entropay doesn't work in many places because it is UK based. Besides, 5% is a lot. On top of the credit card charges you have to pay to fill up your account.

[sabredog]

Originally Posted by geertm

Until now I have found no bookstore that checks the billing address at the credit card company (perhaps credit card transactions are cheaper that way?).

Diesel ebooks checks. I have had no success buying geo restricted books from Diesel of late, even with a Borderlynx billing address.

[eric11210]

Hi folks,

I live in Israel and thought I'd share this cautionary tale to illustrate the issue:

Virtually all English language books in Israel, at least until about 5 years ago were available from just one source -- a chain called Steimatzky. I'm talking about print books here not ebooks. That's because Steimatzky had paid various major publishers for the contracts to English language books here. A few years back, someone decided to try doing an end run around Steimatzky. They arranged to purchase various popular paperbacks in bulk in the United States and ship them in a container to be sold in this country. Even with the added costs, they still undersold Steimatzky. Steimatzky screamed bloody murder and filed suit to prevent the sale. I believe they were successful in their suit, though the market has been opened up somewhat since then (although I find English language books to be at least twice the price here regardless of where I buy them -- Steimatzky or elsewhere).

That was one impetus for me to buy an ebook reader. I use a VPN to visit bookstores in the States and as an American expat, I maintain an address and checking account back in the States, so I have no trouble at all with getting whatever I want. I also now have access to the New York Public library (I'm from New York) and all their available ebooks.

That said, the above story, regarding paperback books should illustrate the issue. It's the contracts, sometimes long term which publishers have agreed to long ago that create all these problems.

It's no different than Hulu or Netflix which also georestrict their content for the same reason. It's not that they don't want to stream all over the world and make money from it. It's that they're restricted from doing so by legal issues (though in the case of Hulu, they are quite vindictive about it, even going so far as to block VPN access when they can find the IP addresses for them, though that's another story).

[sabredog]

I would though, like to add something here.

Many of the ebooks I had previously been able to purchase became geo restricted AFTER the agency 5 rorts started.

Now this would seemingly indicate that even new contracts have geo restrictions built into them. It would certainly appear then that the publishing companies (agency 5) simply do not want to alter their distribution model.

[FlorenceArt]

The geo restrictions are not only in contracts between publishers and distributors. They are in contracts between authors and publishers too. That's what makes change unlikely in the short term.

The fact that geo-restrictions have become much more widespread and strict lately does not reflect a change in contracts, but an increased vigilance in making sure they are upheld.

[bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by geertm

Until now I have found no bookstore that checks the billing address at the credit card company (perhaps credit card transactions are cheaper that way?).

At Fictionwise, Kobobooks and B&N you can use any valid USA address as billing address of your non-USA credit card (for B&N you will also have to use a VPN like Hotspot Shield or alwaysVPN).

Usually registering your account with an USA shipping and billing address is enough to buy books at an USA bookstore.

That is so weird. I've been buying books from Kobo for a few months now and have had no difficulty using my US credit card with my French address (the billing address for the card). And so far, no geographical restrictions with Kobo, either - certainly not on any books I've been interested in.

At the Sony US store, when I tried to register my US credit card with a US address, I got back an error message that the zip code (postal code) of the address I gave did not correspond to that of the credit card billing address. Went so far as to give an address in the US city having the same postal code as my French address but that really flummoxed the system. So I continue to use gift cards to buy from Sony. (My Reader is registered as having the US as its home country.) When asked for my address, I give that of the friend who buys me the gift cards.

As a long-time Borders customer, I've been looking into how to get around their "US only" e-book store, but so far haven't found the time to really pursue this.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by eric11210

It's no different than Hulu or Netflix which also georestrict their content for the same reason. It's not that they don't want to stream all over the world and make money from it. It's that they're restricted from doing so by legal issues (though in the case of Hulu, they are quite vindictive about it, even going so far as to block VPN access when they can find the IP addresses for them, though that's another story).

That's because Hulu is funded by advertisers, and naturally those advertisers are wasting their money if their ads are seen by people outside their own market.

[Blue Tyson]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's because Hulu is funded by advertisers, and naturally those advertisers are wasting their money if their ads are seen by people outside their own market.

So they guarantee that far fewer people see them - and decide to get ad-free content instead, because it is available, and easier.

Clever.

[eric11210]

Originally Posted by Blue Tyson

So they guarantee that far fewer people see them - and decide to get ad-free content instead, because it is available, and easier.

Clever.

Not to mention that there is no reason they can't advertise in foreign markets. When I don't have my VPN on, I regularly see ads in Hebrew. Trust me, they can make tons of money and use the georestrictions to their advantage by targeting ads to the locals. It's all about contracts and the pettiness of locals who own the contracts. In Israel's case, it's the pettiness of the cable and satellite TV monopolies who own the rights to rebroadcast these shows and charge a fortune for TV service which includes crap and shows that are a year out of date (Flash Forward for example started being broadcast here as a "new" show when the series ended in the States).

And yes, anyone who lives overseas who wants to watch these shows can and will visit one of the thousands of websites where one can see them commercial free hours after they were broadcast in the States, meaning that the studios are losing money, but hey, they're blocking access so it's all good, right?

However, that's getting a little off topic anyway. . .

Eric

[mikaelalind]

I just experimented, and changed my billing address to a US one at Kobo. I was still unable to download A Shopaholic's confession.
Ah well. It was worth a try.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by eric11210

Not to mention that there is no reason they can't advertise in foreign markets. When I don't have my VPN on, I regularly see ads in Hebrew. Trust me, they can make tons of money and use the georestrictions to their advantage by targeting ads to the locals.

Eric

I would imagine Israel is a difficult market to enter especially for US companies. They probably find it easier and less offensive to let local media companies handle it. With the Arab and Orthodox communities that equal perhaps 40% of Israel's population much US advertising would be wasteful and distasteful. Ads of beer, Hillshire Farms sausage, Smithfield ham, and car insurance companies that dont operate locally.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by mikaelalind

I just experimented, and changed my billing address to a US one at Kobo. I was still unable to download A Shopaholic's confession.
Ah well. It was worth a try.

Instead of trying to change an existing account, try establishing a NEW account using the US address, and do so with your internet connection turned off. That way the account 'should' register without any ISP country data attached to it.
This is the way I've done it with all my on-line accounts and with the exception of Amazon, have always been successful.

Stitchawl