5 ms·

Wait a second, you consider price-fixing of (e)books in France a good thing? Where I live it's cheaper to buy books online in the UK and have them shipped over

by jd 14y ago

Wait a second, you consider price-fixing of (e)books in France a good thing? Where I live it's cheaper to buy books online in the UK and have them shipped over than to buy them in the local bookstore. So that's what people do. And local bookstores are dying. No surprise, given that it's illegal for them to drop their prices to a competitive level.

ernesth 14y ago
Yes I do consider fixed prices for books a good thing. If it were not for this "prix unique" law, there would be as many local bookstores as there are local disc stores out of Paris: 0, and apart from amazon and fnac, there would be no big bookstores. But we have quite a number of them (chapitre, le furet, cultura, decitre...). Don't forget that Amazon Europe is located in Luxembourg where the tax on books is one of the lowest in Europe (3%). So I am happy to be able to buy my ebooks from independent french bookstores for the same price as it would be from amazon.
- jlgreco 14y ago
  There is pretty much no way on earth that Humble Bundle, by allowing French citizens to pay what they think is fair, for an absurdly limited selection, is going to choke out local bookstores in Paris.
  - acgourley 14y ago
    He is not suggesting that, please don't argue against strawmen.
    - jlgreco 14y ago
      I don't see why it should 'really upset' him, if he isn't suggesting that...
      - ernesth 14y ago
        Upset may be too strong a word. It really disturbs me because it is for me unthinkable to sell books as if they had no value. I have nothing against humble bundle, but it makes me unwell that they treat books this way. I don't care for games for no other good reason that it is only ingrained in my brain that books are not merely commercial products.
        bira 14y ago
        Aren't movies and music culture the same way books are? Are prices fixed for them as well? I didn't know there was such a law in place in France, so I'm curious now. Last question: who fix the prices of books? Who has the power/authority to decide how much a book is worth?
        dagw 14y ago
        who fix the prices of books? The publishers. If you look at the back of most books, you'll see a price printed in the bottom corner. In most countries that generally seen as a general guideline and an upper limit, in France it's legally binding.
        russelluresti 14y ago
        I don't know about the other authors, but I know the Cory Doctorow makes his books available as e-books for free. So, while you may feel that allowing people to pay what they want is disturbing, I know at least one of the authors feels that price fixing as equally disturbing. So if it comes down to your feelings and the feelings of the author, I'm going to side with the author. Also, it's not that they have "no value." It's that they have a different value to different people. To me, this is inherit with the idea of "culture." I completely disagree with the idea that you can put a fixed price on a piece of culture. I'd say it's offensive to even talk about culture in relation to money - like you can put a price on it. I don't see this as paying for the culture of the book, myself - I never have (when buying books). I see this as paying the author for the effort they put into their creation - but not paying for the creation itself (because paying for the creation assumes that it is now mine, and it isn't).

by jd 14y ago

ernesth 14y ago

Yes I do consider fixed prices for books a good thing. If it were not for this "prix unique" law, there would be as many local bookstores as there are local disc stores out of Paris: 0, and apart from amazon and fnac, there would be no big bookstores. But we have quite a number of them (chapitre, le furet, cultura, decitre...). Don't forget that Amazon Europe is located in Luxembourg where the tax on books is one of the lowest in Europe (3%). So I am happy to be able to buy my ebooks from independent french bookstores for the same price as it would be from amazon.

jlgreco 14y ago
There is pretty much no way on earth that Humble Bundle, by allowing French citizens to pay what they think is fair, for an absurdly limited selection, is going to choke out local bookstores in Paris.
- acgourley 14y ago
  He is not suggesting that, please don't argue against strawmen.
  - jlgreco 14y ago
    I don't see why it should 'really upset' him, if he isn't suggesting that...
    - ernesth 14y ago
      Upset may be too strong a word. It really disturbs me because it is for me unthinkable to sell books as if they had no value. I have nothing against humble bundle, but it makes me unwell that they treat books this way. I don't care for games for no other good reason that it is only ingrained in my brain that books are not merely commercial products.
      - bira 14y ago
        Aren't movies and music culture the same way books are? Are prices fixed for them as well? I didn't know there was such a law in place in France, so I'm curious now. Last question: who fix the prices of books? Who has the power/authority to decide how much a book is worth?
        dagw 14y ago
        who fix the prices of books? The publishers. If you look at the back of most books, you'll see a price printed in the bottom corner. In most countries that generally seen as a general guideline and an upper limit, in France it's legally binding.
      - russelluresti 14y ago
        I don't know about the other authors, but I know the Cory Doctorow makes his books available as e-books for free. So, while you may feel that allowing people to pay what they want is disturbing, I know at least one of the authors feels that price fixing as equally disturbing. So if it comes down to your feelings and the feelings of the author, I'm going to side with the author. Also, it's not that they have "no value." It's that they have a different value to different people. To me, this is inherit with the idea of "culture." I completely disagree with the idea that you can put a fixed price on a piece of culture. I'd say it's offensive to even talk about culture in relation to money - like you can put a price on it. I don't see this as paying for the culture of the book, myself - I never have (when buying books). I see this as paying the author for the effort they put into their creation - but not paying for the creation itself (because paying for the creation assumes that it is now mine, and it isn't).