Apple Bookstore in Canada

[omro]

Hi,

I'm in Canada and whenever I connect to the Apple Bookstore, all I get are the free books. Is this just me?

If it is just me, how the heck do I find the more recent titles?!

Thanks

[tyche]

Canada only has access to free books for now.

[omro]

Originally Posted by tyche

Canada only has access to free books for now.

At least I'm not going insane. Thought I'd selected a setting I couldn't work out how to undo!

[HarryT]

It would appear that only US and UK bookstores have paid content at present; paid content will appear in the other stores in the Autumn.

[yvanleterrible]

Canada is presently rewriting it's Copyright Act to resemble the American one. Once it is accepted, signed and turned into law, Apple is likely to release books there. Apple meddles in politics?

I feel it unlikely that everything would be done before summer break.

This law modification has been in progress for two years already.

[scottjl]

i wouldn't go placing the blame on apple for copyright law changes. go look at the publishing companies and what they're trying to do. apple doesn't produce the content, they're only the deliveryman.

[Stefx]

The Kobo app is a good alternative for Canadians it seems.

[yvanleterrible]

So are Amazon, Stanza, Exactly and LaHutte in French.

[Fotoman]

That's the part I don't understand. Kobo, Amazon even B&N sell most everything in Canada... what's so unique about iBooks that they can't sell here?

It just seems odd, to the point of being ridiculous, that on Apple's device, in Canada, we can purchase books from everyone except Apple.

None of the others seem to need whatever extra (false) reassurance the changes to digital copyright law currently being debated provides. I doubt that's the reason for Apple's hold-up.

Imagine Amazon selling the Kindle in Canada but having no books available for purchase? Anyway I look at this, it's pretty poor customer support to the many people unwilling to go through the hassle of opening a second, US, iTunes account... and I suspect that's the vast majority of iPad purchasers in Canada.

You'd think that at the very least Apple would have stated in a prominent way that those wishing to buy the iPad in Canada would need to wait a while for full iBooks support. I wonder how many people just assumed it would be fully functional before they bought it?

Maybe the publishers are insisting that they duplicate the same price gouging they engage in with printed books by charging the customary +33% in the Canadian iBooks store (for those of you who don't know, book publishers assume the exchange rate to be whatever the least favorable to us has been in the past three decades and mark it up by that amount... to add insult to injury, they print both the US and Canadian prices on the book jacket so we can easily see the extent of the gouge.)

[yvanleterrible]

The fact that other stores are offering books in Canada to me is a clear indication that Apple is lobbying for more control on copyright. I am certain that they are in the ranks of those who want the Canadian copyright Act to mimic the American one more closely.
Lobbying is politics period. And so is regionalizing.

[Fotoman]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

The fact that other stores are offering books in Canada to me is a clear indication that Apple is lobbying for more control on copyright. I am certain that they are in the ranks of those who want the Canadian copyright Act to mimic the American one more closely.
Lobbying is politics period. And so is regionalizing.

I don't doubt for a minute that Apple, Microsoft, Sony and all the motion picture and music publishers and distributors are lobbying like crazy to get this passed.

But you're still going to have to explain to me how this ties in to the Canadian iBooks store delay. Especially since Apple just last week finally got around to hiring a manager for the Canadian store: Chris Jackson Named Manager of iBooks-Canada. I would have thought that job would have been filled a couple of months ago, not 3 weeks after the device went for sale here.

Are Canadians more notorious digital pirates than citizens of other countries? I've never seen any statistics that would support that. And with all due respect to my fellow ebook consumers here, we are a tiny minority compared to digital TV, movie and (especially) music downloaders. Music and movie copying, lending, gifting, etc. is what this new law has squarely in its crosshairs. It makes it OK to make copies for your own use in your various devices but only if the digital media is DRM-free. The most significant change proposed is the criminalization of circumventing "digital locks" with media that has it.

This is very much like existing US law. And yet most of the products, methods and instructions for stripping unwanted DRM come from our clever neighbours to the south

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Fotoman

Are Canadians more notorious digital pirates than citizens of other countries?

Less, I would have thought, because you have so much more material in the public domain than do most other countries.

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by Fotoman

I don't doubt for a minute that Apple, Microsoft, Sony and all the motion picture and music publishers and distributors are lobbying like crazy to get this passed.

But you're still going to have to explain to me how this ties in to the Canadian iBooks store delay. Especially since Apple just last week finally got around to hiring a manager for the Canadian store: Chris Jackson Named Manager of iBooks-Canada. I would have thought that job would have been filled a couple of months ago, not 3 weeks after the device went for sale here.

Are Canadians more notorious digital pirates than citizens of other countries? I've never seen any statistics that would support that. And with all due respect to my fellow ebook consumers here, we are a tiny minority compared to digital TV, movie and (especially) music downloaders. Music and movie copying, lending, gifting, etc. is what this new law has squarely in its crosshairs. It makes it OK to make copies for your own use in your various devices but only if the digital media is DRM-free. The most significant change proposed is the criminalization of circumventing "digital locks" with media that has it.

This is very much like existing US law. And yet most of the products, methods and instructions for stripping unwanted DRM come from our clever neighbours to the south

Actually, I'm not very familiar with the intricacies of both laws other than a few points. Public domain in the US is 75 years after death of author, in Canada 50 years. In the US they require DRM for electronic material as in Canada it's only suggested.
This is why so many books proposed in MR's list are allowed, because our main servers are here.

[kjk]

http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/2010...a/?mod=ATD_rss

Canadian users, are you seeing purchasable books in your iBooks store now?

[tyche]

By golly there are books for sale now in Canada. The median prices looks to be $11.99. Some as high as 18.99. Selection is rather limited but I did find a few authors I read in there.