Many Kindle books not available to Canada!

tedtcf · 09-12-2010, 08:51 PM

I have noticed that many books on the Kindle web are not available to Canada, why? Do you know the reason?

Amazon should mention it when selling the Kindle to its Canadian buyers.

flandroid · 09-12-2010, 09:55 PM

The reason is that publishers offer publication rights on a per-market basis.

And Amazon does mention it. Go back to the product description, scroll down to the section about books and prices, and it says 'For non-U.S. customers, content availability and pricing will vary. Check your country.' If you click on 'check your country' and select Canada, you'll see that 460,000 books are available. And they also explain why.

Dwayne_Matheson · 09-12-2010, 10:29 PM

tedtcf, I have a feeling that a part of the problem is the protectionism of the Canadian publishing industry. As flandroid mentions, the information is available, you just have to look. Almost 2/3s of the books are available to Canadian consumers.

I too am Canadian and I don't understand the problem, but if there is anything I can do to see the books available in a digital manner in Canada I'm up to trying. If a book can be purchased in a store, then it should be purchasable in electronic format.

I wonder if it is a rights issue, such as Indigo/Chapters are the only company that can distribute? Anyone know if this is a possibility?

Josieb1 · 09-13-2010, 03:55 AM

We have the same problem in the UK, its petty and anoying, and Canada has more books than the UK store

spacemonkey · 09-13-2010, 04:12 AM

And the UK very heavily promotes it's kindleness.

The sooner publishing (and other media companies) get over market segmentation based on location and adjust to the global internet world the better. It's not a justification for piracy, however I think it is somewhat of a cause of piracy, if I could pick up books by the authors I want to read on my UK kindle for £3-£7 from amazon I wouldn't even think of looking for other sources.

Bittybye · 09-13-2010, 06:46 AM

I think one of the problems is Canada's lax Copyright laws. If I understand it right, right now a Canadian is allowed to strip the DRM and make copies (not to sell, but I'm a little fuzzy on on sharing, it's wrong of course, but I'm not too sure on actual legal ramifications) for a backup. In the US stripping the DRM is illegal. The publishers don't have a choke hold over their costumers and it irritates them.

Funny how they punish countries for crimes they didn't have a chance to commit.

flandroid · 09-13-2010, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bittybye

In the US stripping the DRM is illegal.

Recent court decisions in the US have actually ruled in favour of the consumer and categorised as 'fair use' the stripping of DRM for the purpose of crossing platforms (ie: stripping dongle code to install software on machines for which the dongles don't work, ripping DVDs to netbooks without optical drives for travel, &c). It is very, very unlikely that you'd see any kind of conviction if you were 'caught' stripping DRM from books you bought from the Kobo store so you could transfer them to your Kindle. You might be in breach of the user agreement for the device, and maybe (maybe) Amazon or Kobo would kill your existing accounts, but a judge would probably find that the material has been paid for and no harm was done.

As for the regional market issue, isn't solely a result of protectionism, nor is it petty. Morris Rosenthal has a couple of interesting blog posts from a few years ago here and here that, while written from a self-publishing perspective, might shed some light on the international publishing landscape, rights-wise.

Bittybye · 09-13-2010, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flandroid

Recent court decisions in the US have actually ruled in favour of the consumer and categorised as 'fair use' the stripping of DRM for the purpose of crossing platforms (ie: stripping dongle code to install software on machines for which the dongles don't work, ripping DVDs to netbooks without optical drives for travel, &c). It is very, very unlikely that you'd see any kind of conviction if you were 'caught' stripping DRM from books you bought from the Kobo store so you could transfer them to your Kindle. You might be in breach of the user agreement for the device, and maybe (maybe) Amazon or Kobo would kill your existing accounts, but a judge would probably find that the material has been paid for and no harm was done.

As for the regional market issue, isn't solely a result of protectionism, nor is it petty. Morris Rosenthal has a couple of interesting blog posts from a few years ago here and here that, while written from a self-publishing perspective, might shed some light on the international publishing landscape, rights-wise.

Oh, I hadn't read that, but since I've never never worried about it before I don't really pay attention to the Copyright laws as I've never done anything but buy non DRM and put it on my Kobo after converting.

ProfCrash · 09-13-2010, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flandroid

Recent court decisions in the US have actually ruled in favour of the consumer and categorised as 'fair use' the stripping of DRM for the purpose of crossing platforms (ie: stripping dongle code to install software on machines for which the dongles don't work, ripping DVDs to netbooks without optical drives for travel, &c). It is very, very unlikely that you'd see any kind of conviction if you were 'caught' stripping DRM from books you bought from the Kobo store so you could transfer them to your Kindle. You might be in breach of the user agreement for the device, and maybe (maybe) Amazon or Kobo would kill your existing accounts, but a judge would probably find that the material has been paid for and no harm was done.

As for the regional market issue, isn't solely a result of protectionism, nor is it petty. Morris Rosenthal has a couple of interesting blog posts from a few years ago here and here that, while written from a self-publishing perspective, might shed some light on the international publishing landscape, rights-wise.

There are plenty of folks who disagree with the above reading of the DRM ruling. My understanding was that it applied to situations were you could not reasonably get ahold of the content and that it specifically applied to Test To Speech on the Kindle. So that a person could strip the DRM that blocked the ability to use TTS when there was no reasonable alternative for someone with a visual handicap to listen to the book.

Since there are multiple e-readers and e-reader apps that can be used to read books, it would not be reasonable to say that you cannot read an e-book in a different format and cannot legally strip the DRM. Someone who is blind or has some other visual impairment who who has a Kindle and cannot buy an audio version of the book can strip the DRM so that they can listen to the book using TTS.

This is how I see the ruling.

flandroid · 09-13-2010, 02:31 PM

Actually I was talking about this sort of thing, ProfCrash.

ProfCrash · 09-13-2010, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flandroid

Actually I was talking about this sort of thing, ProfCrash.

The problem is I have seen people interpet that ruling differently. It gives me a headache...

I have made the decision not to strip DRM because I am a wuss and am not convinced that it is legal. I don't have a moral or ethical problem with others stripping DRM because I know that there are those who can make a good case that it is now allowed.

The idealist in me just wishes they would stop using DRM and make my headache go away but we know that is not going to happen because DRM has been soooooooo good at stopping piracy.

abookreader · 09-13-2010, 03:49 PM

I think we all feel your pain.

There is nothing more frustrating than to be knocking on somebody's front door wanting to buy their product and being told "no sorry, you live in the wrong country. We don't sell to you." And then you can start thinking of all the tricks you can pull so that you can fool them into taking your money. Kind of ridiculous - right?

I think the Publishers need to stop spinning their wheels over pricing schemes and new DRM schemes and maybe concentrate on what they're supposed to do .... make it so people who want to buy books can actually buy the books.

Corran006 · 09-13-2010, 05:49 PM

Just change your address to U.S one its what I did.

ProfCrash · 09-13-2010, 06:00 PM

Don't use 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Amazon is on to that one.

durkinrobinson · 09-13-2010, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tedtcf

I have noticed that many books on the Kindle web are not available to Canada, why? Do you know the reason?

Amazon should mention it when selling the Kindle to its Canadian buyers.

Perhaps as punishment for Justin Bieber?

09-12-2010, 08:51 PM	#1
tedtcf Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2010 Device: none	Many Kindle books not available to Canada! I have noticed that many books on the Kindle web are not available to Canada, why? Do you know the reason? Amazon should mention it when selling the Kindle to its Canadian buyers.

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09-12-2010, 09:55 PM	#2
flandroid Connoisseur Posts: 98 Karma: 294 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Kindle 2/3/4/PW3	The reason is that publishers offer publication rights on a per-market basis. And Amazon does mention it. Go back to the product description, scroll down to the section about books and prices, and it says 'For non-U.S. customers, content availability and pricing will vary. Check your country.' If you click on 'check your country' and select Canada, you'll see that 460,000 books are available. And they also explain why.

09-12-2010, 10:29 PM	#3
Dwayne_Matheson Connoisseur Posts: 65 Karma: 60 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Courtenay, BC Device: Kindle 3 Wifi	tedtcf, I have a feeling that a part of the problem is the protectionism of the Canadian publishing industry. As flandroid mentions, the information is available, you just have to look. Almost 2/3s of the books are available to Canadian consumers. I too am Canadian and I don't understand the problem, but if there is anything I can do to see the books available in a digital manner in Canada I'm up to trying. If a book can be purchased in a store, then it should be purchasable in electronic format. I wonder if it is a rights issue, such as Indigo/Chapters are the only company that can distribute? Anyone know if this is a possibility?

09-13-2010, 03:55 AM	#4
Josieb1 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,009 Karma: 18018738 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: UK Device: Kobo Forma, Libra2, Clara 2e, Kindle PW SE & Kindle 2022	We have the same problem in the UK, its petty and anoying, and Canada has more books than the UK store

09-13-2010, 04:12 AM	#5
spacemonkey Enthusiast Posts: 47 Karma: 120 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: kindle 3 wifi	And the UK very heavily promotes it's kindleness. The sooner publishing (and other media companies) get over market segmentation based on location and adjust to the global internet world the better. It's not a justification for piracy, however I think it is somewhat of a cause of piracy, if I could pick up books by the authors I want to read on my UK kindle for £3-£7 from amazon I wouldn't even think of looking for other sources.

09-13-2010, 06:46 AM	#6
Bittybye Addict Posts: 262 Karma: 505124 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: PRS-T2	I think one of the problems is Canada's lax Copyright laws. If I understand it right, right now a Canadian is allowed to strip the DRM and make copies (not to sell, but I'm a little fuzzy on on sharing, it's wrong of course, but I'm not too sure on actual legal ramifications) for a backup. In the US stripping the DRM is illegal. The publishers don't have a choke hold over their costumers and it irritates them. Funny how they punish countries for crimes they didn't have a chance to commit.

09-13-2010, 02:31 PM	#10
flandroid Connoisseur Posts: 98 Karma: 294 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Kindle 2/3/4/PW3	Actually I was talking about this sort of thing, ProfCrash.

09-13-2010, 03:49 PM	#12
abookreader Wizard Posts: 1,516 Karma: 2567610 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Kindles - Keyboard, Fire, 2-US, iPhone, iPAD	I think we all feel your pain. There is nothing more frustrating than to be knocking on somebody's front door wanting to buy their product and being told "no sorry, you live in the wrong country. We don't sell to you." And then you can start thinking of all the tricks you can pull so that you can fool them into taking your money. Kind of ridiculous - right? I think the Publishers need to stop spinning their wheels over pricing schemes and new DRM schemes and maybe concentrate on what they're supposed to do .... make it so people who want to buy books can actually buy the books.

09-13-2010, 05:49 PM	#13
Corran006 Connoisseur Posts: 68 Karma: 7080 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Toronto Device: Kindle 3	Just change your address to U.S one its what I did.

09-13-2010, 06:00 PM	#14
ProfCrash Tea Enthusiast Posts: 8,554 Karma: 75384937 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Somewhere in the USA Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2	Don't use 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Amazon is on to that one.