American ebook protectionism?

[Argel]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

And the strange thing is that everybody loses under the 'geographical restriction' model, publishers, authors, booksellers and readers alike.

Not necessarily true. Regional or individual country pricing can be a way of achieving an optimum price in each market.

If a product is priced to achieve the best overall return (in terms of sales*price) in the US, it may be unaffordable in many other markets, such as those in the developing world.

If sales can be successfully regionalized, without items leaking from lower-price to higher price markets, then the product can be sold in each market at a price (above the marginal cost) which the consumer is willing to pay. Actually everyone wins - except those who go comparing the price they are invited to pay with the price offered to poorer (or less interested) people.

Many people approve of drug-companies selling drugs in developing markets at only a small mark-up to the marginal cost of production, while the big profits are made in richer economies that can afford to pay more. Why not the same model with ebooks?

[khalleron]

This thread is mis-titled. It's not the American publishers and retailers who *won't* sell overseas; it's the foreign publishers (primarily in the UK) who won't let them!