Kindle matchbook, or offering that would be illegal in France - Numerama

When Parliament adopted the Law on the single price of digital books and entered into force in November 2011, we emphasized the book industry put itself in the sticks wheels, insulting the future. Far from protecting publishers or even the booksellers, the law primarily to prohibit most commercial practices to the book trade to find the strength he needs to adapt to new uses.

proof is again offering that Amazon has announced the United States, that will never see the day in France unless modified by law. In the same spirit as the Autorip Service that allows for an MP3 for each physical CD purchased the Amazon Kindle Matchbook program will allow the site e-commerce customers to buy digital editions of their books at a great price reduced when they purchased the paper version – with retrospective effect from 1995. Convenient for those who have taken long-term, lost, sold or burned their paper book and want to read these books on their tablet or electronic reading light.

Over 10,000 books will be accessible to Amazon customers at a price that will be totally free up to $ 2.99 maximum.

But no question of the same service in France, because of the law of the single price of digital books. This requires that publishers set the selling price of books sold in digital form, which “ is needed for people with offers of digital books to buyers located in France .”

law allows only adjust the price “ based on the contents of the offer and its terms of access or use .” But the content or how to access or use will vary between a book sold from the first purchase in digital form, and the same book sold in digital after being sold in paper. Amazon in offering only the price varies. Which is illegal in France.

If you want to download a book that you already have in your library, it will be necessary to redeem at full price in a digital version. Or hack. The publishers and retailers have the right to offer an alternative. In theory.

In practice, there are deals like Paperus flirting with the law by combining paper and digital book at the time of purchase, in the same promotion. But it is not so, as does Amazon, a retroactive offer. No doubt, however, that publishers try to twist the law to authorize what the law prohibits in principle.