Australian Publishers are KIDDING ! - Page 2

GeoffC · 06-18-2010, 05:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thinkpadx

Have you got a credit card attached to the Diesel account? Last time I checked (couple of weeks ago) it was possible to buy books with gift card as long as a credit card was attached to the account.

perhaps a 'couple of weeks' is a long time in geo-restriction land ....

thinkpad · 06-18-2010, 05:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffC

perhaps a 'couple of weeks' is a long time in geo-restriction land ....

They sure don't make it easy. Quite strange why it should be easier pirating than trying to give something back to the author. Restrictions has already proven futile in the music industry. It seems that the book industry is only repeating the same mistakes.

sabredog · 06-18-2010, 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thinkpadx

Have you got a credit card attached to the Diesel account? Last time I checked (couple of weeks ago) it was possible to buy books with gift card as long as a credit card was attached to the account.

Certainly have. Tried everything to buy the ebook at the time.

sabredog · 06-18-2010, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thinkpadx

They sure don't make it easy. Quite strange why it should be easier pirating than trying to give something back to the author. Restrictions has already proven futile in the music industry. It seems that the book industry is only repeating the same mistakes.

My thoughts exactly and something the manager of Diesel told me in our email discussion. They are aware of the mess.

DixieGal · 06-18-2010, 07:34 AM

Does ebooks.com still exist? The one time I bought from that Aussie company, they added about a 50% foreign transaction fee, so I never went back.

Blue Tyson · 06-18-2010, 09:25 AM

DixieGal, yeah, they still exist.

Blue Tyson · 06-18-2010, 09:41 AM

Here's a good quote :-

“Australians illegally download more tV shows and movies than any other country in the world,” said Storrier in the statement, noting much of the problem came from the fact that the content simply wasn’t legally available online Down Under — “This is an accessibility issue”.

“When you consider the availability of video entertainment content in overseas markets, we’re practically a content wasteland Down Under,” Storrier added. “A couple of recent launches of IPTV services hardly fill the existing void.”

http://delimiter.com.au/2010/06/15/a...emand-service/

Same thing applies.

But you can look at it like this :-

Northern Hemisphere ereading thing taking off.

Southern Hemisphere given examples in other media will always have a much smaller fraction of the work available to buy.

Plus, more Northern Hemisphere people with access, more of them will upload stuff their own companies produce. Most of the major publishing types of course having rump offshoots here.

So, again we won't be able to buy it - but will be able to get it for free. Good for the balance of trade?

Flipside of that is that they won't sell Australian work to the rest of the world, despite no contracts existing for most others in other regions. Either scared it will lower paper sales, or hoping for big strike lottery rights trading?

With the book thing - if they do try and keep prices as double or triple it is quite likely they will be publicly lambasted by both the left and the right.

Pretty sure I even saw Garth Nix write the other day 'we need to have reasonable and competitive prices' (can't remember where at the moment). He being one of the spokesmodels for the protectionists here recently. So even people in that camp changing their tune.

So, Australians (and our kiwi neighbours), despite being able to afford it if reasonably comparably priced are going to benefit from the ever-increasing availability of free stuff they can't pay for even if they want to. Doesn't look like it will change any time soon.

Good that we get something back for subsidising their telecommunications, anyway.

Clancy_s · 06-18-2010, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blue Tyson

You would actually have to list your address as in the USA for that to work, though?

My address is listed as Australia, my account is over 10 years old though I don't know if that counts.

It was a Simon and Schuster Star Trek Novel (5th in a series of which I have 1-4 in paper): S&S Australia had specifically told me it wasn't available as an ebook in Australia, though I didn't check Amazon closely to see if they had it as georestricted.

I searched for it in Kindle PC, found it, bought it with one-click and it downloaded fine. It's possible Amazon didn't have it georestricted despite S&S thinking it was.

Since I'll only buy Kindle stuff as a last resort (I use a Sony ereader) it may be a while 'til I get around to trying another.

Erina · 06-18-2010, 11:38 PM

the really annoying thing about all this is that the ebook I wanted is out of print in paperback. So I am not hurting any bookstore / publisher in Aust by buying electronically. Borders are simply price gouging - no other explanation.

Valhalla · 06-19-2010, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nomesque

They have been known to send 'Please prove you have a US address' emails, and kill people's accounts. Not overly common though, as far as I'm aware.

I got one of these emails the other day but so far nothing has happened to my account. Seemed strange since I have only bought 2 US books in total! Anyone knows what happens next?

sabredog · 06-21-2010, 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erina

Borders are simply price gouging - no other explanation.

This is what I suspected might happen.

Prices for ebooks not moving down to competitive prices. If that was done currently it would upset the cosy publisher protectionist racket running.

If ebooks are to take gain popularity, then prices must fall and availability increase.

nomesque · 06-21-2010, 12:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erina

Borders are simply price gouging - no other explanation.

To be fair, it might be the publisher price gouging instead

nikkers · 06-21-2010, 03:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sabredog

Gift cards won't work at Diesel any more it seems. I have credit there and I cannot buy Geo restricted titles with them even using a US borderlynx address.

Not just Diesel but all of the shops that have come to some arrangement with the publishers catch you by needing to have a credit card nos to use a gift certificate. So you need a US card. Work arounds really suck these days and don't talk to freely on the forums cause they are lurking.

sabredog · 06-21-2010, 04:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikkers

Work arounds really suck these days and don't talk to freely on the forums cause they are lurking.

Perhaps both publishers AND ebook stores need to understand that there are alternatives if one cannot purchase ebooks.

Damn shame really that potential customers are herded down that path.

DRM is not doing as much damage as geographic restrictions are. Not by a long shot.

AnemicOak · 06-21-2010, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sabredog

Perhaps both publishers AND ebook stores need to understand that there are alternatives if one cannot purchase ebooks.

I'm sure most stores would like nothing more than to sell to every potential customer. It's publishers who pulled books a couple of years ago to get stores to comply with enforcing geo restrictions.

Quote:

DRM is not doing as much damage as geographic restrictions are. Not by a long shot.

Agreed.

06-18-2010, 09:41 AM	#22
Blue Tyson Blue Captain Posts: 1,595 Karma: 5000236 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Keyboard 3G,Huawei Ideos X3,Kobo Mini	Here's a good quote :- “Australians illegally download more tV shows and movies than any other country in the world,” said Storrier in the statement, noting much of the problem came from the fact that the content simply wasn’t legally available online Down Under — “This is an accessibility issue”. “When you consider the availability of video entertainment content in overseas markets, we’re practically a content wasteland Down Under,” Storrier added. “A couple of recent launches of IPTV services hardly fill the existing void.” http://delimiter.com.au/2010/06/15/a...emand-service/ Same thing applies. But you can look at it like this :- Northern Hemisphere ereading thing taking off. Southern Hemisphere given examples in other media will always have a much smaller fraction of the work available to buy. Plus, more Northern Hemisphere people with access, more of them will upload stuff their own companies produce. Most of the major publishing types of course having rump offshoots here. So, again we won't be able to buy it - but will be able to get it for free. Good for the balance of trade? Flipside of that is that they won't sell Australian work to the rest of the world, despite no contracts existing for most others in other regions. Either scared it will lower paper sales, or hoping for big strike lottery rights trading? With the book thing - if they do try and keep prices as double or triple it is quite likely they will be publicly lambasted by both the left and the right. Pretty sure I even saw Garth Nix write the other day 'we need to have reasonable and competitive prices' (can't remember where at the moment). He being one of the spokesmodels for the protectionists here recently. So even people in that camp changing their tune. So, Australians (and our kiwi neighbours), despite being able to afford it if reasonably comparably priced are going to benefit from the ever-increasing availability of free stuff they can't pay for even if they want to. Doesn't look like it will change any time soon. Good that we get something back for subsidising their telecommunications, anyway. Last edited by Blue Tyson; 06-18-2010 at 09:42 AM. Reason: typo

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06-18-2010, 07:34 AM	#20
DixieGal Hi There! Posts: 7,473 Karma: 2930523 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Ft Lauderdale Device: iPad	Does ebooks.com still exist? The one time I bought from that Aussie company, they added about a 50% foreign transaction fee, so I never went back.

06-18-2010, 09:25 AM	#21
Blue Tyson Blue Captain Posts: 1,595 Karma: 5000236 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Keyboard 3G,Huawei Ideos X3,Kobo Mini	DixieGal, yeah, they still exist.

06-18-2010, 11:38 PM	#24
Erina Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2008 Device: None	the really annoying thing about all this is that the ebook I wanted is out of print in paperback. So I am not hurting any bookstore / publisher in Aust by buying electronically. Borders are simply price gouging - no other explanation.

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