RSSAmazon.fr keeps free shipping, for now
By Tim Conneally | Published January 16, 2008, 1:41 PM
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.
A union of French bookstores sued Amazon last month over the free shipping on orders over €20, saying that the cost of Amazon's delivery reduced the price of a book to one lower than allowed by the Lang Law. The booksellers were awarded €100,000 in damages in the suit, and Amazon was ordered to enact a delivery charge.
Amazon appealed the ruling on Friday, but must pay €1000 each day it does not charge for delivery as a penalty for not observing the court order. Xavier Garambois, director of Amazon.fr said the company will pay the fine rather than charge for shipping. Thirty days after the initial ruling, the court may extend, raise, or lower the fine.
Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon said that France would be the only country where the free delivery option would be declared illegal.
An online petition showing customers' favor toward free delivery received over 120,000 hits by Monday evening.
The petition says, "The continuations of this trade union are no less than a cynical attempt to eliminate competition from Amazon.fr. The legal argumentation of the trade union is based on the Lang Law, which limits reductions to the suggested retail price of books. The irony of this tactic is that the purpose of the Lang Law is to preserve the diversity of cultural creation and to give to the booksellers the means of offering a broad selection of books, not only best-sellers [and] Amazon.fr, places at your disposal the vastest offering of books in French available in the world."
How s*** Happens
In the beginning was the Plan and then came the Assumption.
And the Assumptions were without form, and the Plan was completely without substance, and darkness was upon the faces of the workers.
And they spoke amongst themselves saying, “It is a crock of s***, and it stinketh.”
And the workers went unto their supervisors and sayeth, “It is a pail of dung and none may abide the odor thereof.”
And the supervisors went unto their managers and sayeth unto them, “It is a container of excrement and it is very strong, such that none may abide by it.”
And the managers went unto their directors and sayeth, “It is a vessel of fertilizer, and none may abide its strength.”
And the directors spoke among themselves saying to one another, “It contains that which aids plant growth, and it is very strong.”
And the directors went unto their vice presidents to sayeth unto them, “It promotes growth and is very powerful.”
And the vice presidents went unto the president and sayeth unto him, “This new plan will actively promote the growth and efficiency of this company, and these areas in particular.” And the president looked upon the Plan, and saw that it was good.
And the Plan became Policy
And this is how s*** Happens.
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|Amazon will win on apeal (maybe with a smarter lawyer or a smarter judge).
If I go to a book store during work hours I have to pay for gas/bus/metro and maybe for time off work. This payment is not governed by the Lang Law and is an externality (maybe I am an unemployed bum living upstairs to the bookstore - my extra cost then is 0).
Amazon's shipping price which may depend on how fast I want the book to be delivered or how far I live is just a similar externality which cannot be covered by that law for the same reasons (if I want it to be shipped in an hour, I pay more but that has nothing to do with the book's price but with some service around buying the book).
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|Regarding the price of the books (the 95%-100% thing), until 1997 the UK had a very similar thing in place known as the Net Book Agreement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Book_Agreement
It went to the wall after it was ruled not to be in the public interest.
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|Kudos to France, a country who refuses to let a corporation dictate its policies, unlike the US, where corporations even decide which candidates get to debate on government-owned airwaves. Face it, amerika is the Microsoft of the 21st century: losers with a capital L.
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|What an idiot! They don't let corporations dictate their policies, but trade unions do a great job of it!
mo·ron
1. a person who is notably stupid or lacking in good judgment.
2. Psychology. a person of borderline intelligence in a former classification of mental retardation, having an intelligence quotient of 50 to 69.
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|take your bigoted remarks elsewhere.
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|If you think France is so much better then America why don't you move there? I'm sure we can take up a collection to buy you a plane ticket.
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|Please.... who is right-- 1 OR 200 countries and territories?
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|What on earth are you talking about? Did you even bother to read the article? I know you horsecharles. I know your mental ability is on the lower end of the range, but surely even you think that one could be right where 200 could be wrong.
If not, then I am sure that "might makes right" and "the majority is always right" are staples of your minuscule mind.
Thankfully, there were a few who disagreed with you during the times of Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Tojo, Ide Amin etc...
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|Hmpffff ... "who is right-- 1 OR 200 countries and territories?"
In Spain, they say "Si 10.000 millones de moscas comen mierda, come mierda !!!" ... which means: If 10.000 millions of flies eat s***, eat s*** too !!!
Don't know WHO is right, the flies or the people who mimics the flies ...
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|Thats nice Hitler. Go home.
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|Oh. That was good. Did it take you all night to think of that one? Five words, that's the most you've used in awhile.
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|Go live with the frogs then......
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|Remember, too, that in France, sales are dictated by the government. So retailers can't discount a product without getting government approval.
I am so grateful to be a US citizen.
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|No, ignorant morons, sales are not dictated by the government. It's a bit more complicated than that.
But leave it to the Yanks to oversimplify any situation they can't possibly understand (which applies to about everything happening outside of North America).
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|So why don't you educate us then.
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|So if your saying he is wrong WHY wont YOU tell us what the RIGHT answer is?
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|Not as complicated as you think, MORON!
dic·tate
2. to prescribe or lay down authoritatively or peremptorily; command unconditionally: to dictate peace terms to a conquered enemy.
95% to 100% is a dictate from the French Government.
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|how would he continue to sit high above us upon his throne of wisdom if he replied?
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|please explan on It's a bit more complicated than that.
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|Lol. It seems everyone including me was thinking:
"Only the Frenchies could do something like that".
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|frenchies
amazon is great!
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|Wow only in France can you not do something for nothing.
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|Leave it to the French to complain when consumers end up with quality goods at lower prices.
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|Lower prices arent always good for the consumer in the long run. See: Wal-Mart
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|Yea! You definitaly got that right. Walmart blows. Its such a trash joint (expecially the one near me) with many trashy products that deceive the eye until actual use.
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|no one put a gun to your head and told you to go there did they?
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|so go to target. it's really about choice isn't it? while i personally avoid the store myself i see options, employment and the circulation of goods and money as good for the economy.
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|I fail to see how Wal-Mart's low prices are bad for the consumer in any way.
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|In much the same way a Dollor Inn that charges $21 a night for a hotel room also creates jobs, circulation of goods and helps the economy. No one may make you go stay the night there, but the kind of business it creates and brings to a neighborhood isnt always good. I avoid it like the plague but my doing that doesnt stop the efect it has on local economies and national employment. Replacing high paying factory jobs with low paying retail jobs isnt good for the consumer. I'm removed from the whole subject, but I still dont like it.
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