Geo Restrictions

[emmad]

This is probably more of a rant than a worthwhile post sigh.

I've only had my Kindle for two weeks but already becoming very frustrated by Geo Restrictions. And by this I mean not just all the books I would like to buy but can't but the freebies that people post on amazon. I have yet to find one that is free. They all have a charge of $2 for the Asia Pacific region yet are free for the US.

I know the Geo Restrictions are not under amazon's control but surely if a book is free it should be free for all not based on a region.

[ChaoZ]

I think it's a legitimate concern, since 3G delivery isn't necessary anymore with the new generation of wifi Kindles. Aside from publishers regional restrictions, which Amazon has little control over, free titles should be free anywhere. Tack on the 3G delivery fee after, if needed, but let people download for free over Wifi or through computer.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by ChaoZ

I think it's a legitimate concern, since 3G delivery isn't necessary anymore with the new generation of wifi Kindles. Aside from publishers regional restrictions, which Amazon has little control over, free titles should be free anywhere. Tack on the 3G delivery fee after, if needed, but let people download for free over Wifi or through computer.

Remember that, once you've bought a book, you can subsequently download it to any Kindle device that you've bought or will buy in the future.

Let's suppose that you have a Kindle WiFi and you download 100 free books. You then buy a Kindle 3G. Should Amazon charge you the $200 in roaming charges at that point? Would you be happy for this to be done?

[neilmarr]

Geographical restrictions are not always the publisher's fault, Emmad. Some publishers (like my own indie house) hold international rights to all titles, but the big stores look at our registration locations (Canada, USA, soon Australia in our case), and lump us in with those houses that produce country-specific editions ... for the sheer convenience of the third-party retail store itself!

Until Amazon (and other major ebook stores) gets its act together on this vital point, pop into the bookstore section of our own site (link below) and pick out a couple of recent titles offered in Mobi format for Kindle (no DRM), and I'll happily send them over to you with our compliments. Several books there by Australian authors and/or set Down Under.

Just email me on ntmarrATbewrite.net (use the @ sign)

Very best wishes. Neil

[Cryonica]

I am also hopelessly frustrated by geographical restrictions. First, they prevent me from buying books available on the other side of the pond. Right now I would want to buy Nick Bilton I live in the future and here's how it works, but it is not for sale on Amazon UK. Second, when a Kindle book is for sale on Amazon UK the price can be the double that of the same book on Amazon US. I want to buy the Kindle book by Clay Shirky Cognitive Suplus UK price: £15.99 US price: $ 12.99 = £8.35. I would be grateful for any suggestion as to how to bypass these restrictions. I am willing to pay for the books so why prevent me from buying them and from buying them where I want?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Cryonica

I am also hopelessly frustrated by geographical restrictions. First, they prevent me from buying books available on the other side of the pond. Right now I would want to buy Nick Bilton I live in the future and here's how it works, but it is not for sale on Amazon UK. Second, when a Kindle book is for sale on Amazon UK the price can be the double that of the same book on Amazon US. I want to buy the Kindle book by Clay Shirky Cognitive Suplus UK price: £15.99 US price: $ 12.99 = £8.35. I would be grateful for any suggestion as to how to bypass these restrictions. I am willing to pay for the books so why prevent me from buying them and from buying them where I want?

I shouldn't complain too loudly. It's more often the case that books are significantly cheaper on Amazon UK than Amazon.com, since we don't suffer from the "Agency Pricing" that's in force in the US. We gain far, far more than we lose.

Eg, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" costs $6.64 for people in the US. For us in the UK it costs £2.68 (currently $4.16) and that's including 17.5% VAT (which, of course, the US price does not have).

[suecsi]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I shouldn't complain too loudly. It's more often the case that books are significantly cheaper on Amazon UK than Amazon.com, since we don't suffer from the "Agency Pricing" that's in force in the US. We gain far, far more than we lose.

Eg, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" costs $6.64 for people in the US. For us in the UK it costs £2.68 (currently $4.16) and that's including 17.5% VAT (which, of course, the US price does not have).

[TheKindleWorm]

I try very hard not to compare the Amazon UK store with the US one. I just try and focus on what is available because in reality there are more books in the UK store than I could ever read in a lifetime.

The only thing that does annoy me is why should the USA store get all the freebies they do (which is a very considerable weekly amount) when we get very few in the UK store. That in my eyes is not right - the freebie allocation ought to be the same for all countries. I suppose there is a reason for it though.

[desertblues]

Originally Posted by TheKindleWorm

I try very hard not to compare the Amazon UK store with the US one. I just try and focus on what is available because in reality there are more books in the UK store than I could ever read in a lifetime.

The only thing that does annoy me is why should the USA store get all the freebies they do (which is a very considerable weekly amount) when we get very few in the UK store. That in my eyes is not right - the freebie allocation ought to be the same for all countries. I suppose there is a reason for it though.

For the Netherlands I have the total amount of 3, yes t-h-r-e-e freebies: Alice in Wonderland, The static of spheres by Eric Kraft and Cybill Disobedience from Cybill Shepherd. For the other free books I have to pay 2,30$ for whispernet, even it they sent it by PC, which in my inexperienced mind, doesn't cost that much.
I cannot make much sense of it.

[joblack]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Remember that, once you've bought a book, you can subsequently download it to any Kindle device that you've bought or will buy in the future.

Let's suppose that you have a Kindle WiFi and you download 100 free books. You then buy a Kindle 3G. Should Amazon charge you the $200 in roaming charges at that point? Would you be happy for this to be done?

Only that your calculations aren't right. You don't suppose Amazon will pay 2 USD for a transfer < 1 MByte. They have special price conditions.

It's only a mechanism to get more money from the customer.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by joblack

Only that your calculations aren't right. You don't suppose Amazon will pay 2 USD for a transfer < 1 MByte. They have special price conditions.

No, my prices are correct. When you buy a book in a country where Amazon don't have a local agreement with a telecoms operator there's a flat $2 surcharge, and that's a fee for "data roaming" for downloading via 3G. I was simply asking whether the previous poster would be happy to have that fee dropped if it were then to be re-applied were the poster to subsequently buy a 3g Kindle.

[Falcao]

There are always less than honorable ways to avoid geo-restrictions.

[ChaoZ]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Remember that, once you've bought a book, you can subsequently download it to any Kindle device that you've bought or will buy in the future.

Let's suppose that you have a Kindle WiFi and you download 100 free books. You then buy a Kindle 3G. Should Amazon charge you the $200 in roaming charges at that point? Would you be happy for this to be done?

I'm fine with it as long as they warn me that redownloading over 3G will incur the $2 fee per download.

[wesleyer]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Remember that, once you've bought a book, you can subsequently download it to any Kindle device that you've bought or will buy in the future.

Let's suppose that you have a Kindle WiFi and you download 100 free books. You then buy a Kindle 3G. Should Amazon charge you the $200 in roaming charges at that point? Would you be happy for this to be done?

Amazon could very well only charge you the US$2 whenever you download a given book for the first time using 3G.
This would complicate things a little, because they would have to mantain this control (and potentially warning the user that he/she is about to be charged), but it could be done.
It would be more fair to their customers than adding US$2 the price of a book which might not ever be downloaded through 3G.

[Falcao]

Originally Posted by PhillipA82

Can you name a few?

I use Hotspot Shield.