The relaxed lifestyle is part of a greater picture I think. But first, have a look at the website setup by Jaime Clarke, a US writer who has written a book due

The relaxed lifestyle is part of a greater picture I think. But first, have a look at the website setup by Jaime Clarke, a US writer who has written a book due to be published in 2014. http://pleasedontbuymybookonamazon.com/ http://pleasedontbuymybookonamazon.com/ The name of the site says it all and he explains his reasons. The french bill has the same goal actually as what is said by this US writer: to allow a more diverse books, authors, bookstores and publishers ecosystem. The previous french fixed price Lang's law had the same goal again: to protect independent bookstores, as they can't offer the same volume price cuts as Amazon could do. Those bookstores do not offer the same service as Amazon either, so it has been decided to favor the quality of the book ecosystem instead of the final book price only. Therefore, books, authors, publishers have a possibility to exist, even if they are not in the top 10 selling list. This is not a law against Amazon, because Amazon is actually a great bookstore in its own way, but the goal is to have the choice, even if it has a cost. There's a US saying that God helps those who help themselves: here, the french are just doing that, because that's what the way of life they want, where the country culture uses tools (legal, economic) to establish and develop, and not where economy defines what the culture should be, even if it has a price and leads to the heavier handed management you mention compared to English speaking countries. (edit: typo)