Oops, Free Shipping is a Crime

Oops, Free Shipping is a Crime

Friday, January 18, 2008 - by Michael Santo
Who could have imagined?  Free shipping is a crime?  In France, it is.

Amazon.com said on Monday that it would rather pay €1000 a day in fines than abolish its free shipping on books in France.

Free shipping from Amazon.fr is apparently a violation of a 1981 law that was passed to ensure the French public receives equal access to all forms of literature.

The Lang Law (81-766 August 10, 1981) says that the selling price of books must be indicated by the editor on the cover, and that any retailer is required to sell the work at a price ranging between 95% and 100% of the price indicated. This provision was intended to keep the selling price of books homogenous between points of sale, preventing discount retailers from dominating dedicated booksellers and subsequently reshaping what literature is available to the public at large.

Amazon.com has a petition on their French site.  Any guess as to what most people want?  Right, free shipping.

Via: BetaNews | News Archive | Tags: RIM, IM, crime, Free, ping, shipping
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Comments

By Super Dave on Jan 18, 2008

 Silly Frenchmen.

By on Jan 20, 2008

they made quite a leap there didnt they from their law.. that states everyone have equal access to all forms of literature to free shipping ilegal ?

I dont know, but I feel US business really get victimized in foreign countries. It just seems strange to me that most of the companies that get sued are also the most successful. IE microsoft, Intel, Amazon.. Who is left ? Google maybe ? And most of the charges are really a bit rediculous.. like Microsoft not making their own private code available.. Intel offering discounts for loyalty. ETC.. I'd say this is good old fashion business but I admit my own lack of knowledge of the laws and rules of socialist countries. Perhaps coke will be forced to share their secret recipe because generic soda 001 cant compete.

By ryan92084 on Jan 21, 2008

beyond the justification behind the law this just plain doesn't make sense.  ok prices are normalized so amazon should be selling the book about the same as all the book stores, right?  so how is making shipping free unfairly discounting the books?  they still cost the same.

By M0R0NI on Jan 21, 2008

It just does not make sense!Tongue Tied

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