Can I use vouchers to purchase iTunes Store music in another country?

You need a valid residential address in the country you wish to purchase from.

As noted you will need a valid CC and address from the iTS of a particular country to purchase.

If you do go the e-bay route then you are going around the protections and violating copyright/distribution rules. You are also complaining about those selling a card a greater then face value - sounds like 'scalping' a concert ticket.

MJ

I am in precisely the same position as D46, living in South Africa and not able to utilise a new feature for the iTouch (Lyrics) even though this feature was FREELY available on past models.

The situation really is apalling.

Apple were very keen to sell hardware to this region but not interested in making software for this hardware available!

Even if iTunes isn't available surely one should be able to purchase and download other offerings from Apple?

As I understand Apple's position - the update to the iPT is considered a major update - much like going from OSX 10.4 to 10.5 - hence the decision to require payment. I also understand that the iPT will work without the update - hence the device is still usable.

I too am not a lawyer. To purchase via the legal outlets is the right thing to do and if I were a musician I would thank you for doing the right thing.

To purchase a card via e-bay and complaining that there was a mark up - the mark up was not from Apple - it is from the person that is selling the card on e-bay. It may not be a violation of copyright - but it is possibly a violation of distribution rights.

This discussion has been hashed out here in the forums many times so I will let you do a search if you want to know more about why Apple has to have different stores for different countries. If it were up to me the one-size-fits-all model would be my preference.

MJ

As noted already it is a matter of distribution rights.

Apple may not have been granted the distribution rights for tunes in your country. Therefore is it really Apple's fault?

If the you purchased a device through legal retail outlets in your country then I would think there is a method by which you can purchase the update software from the outlet where you purchased your hardware.

MJ

Mike, not sure why you keep insinuating something underhand has led to D46 and my frustration. In South Africa we have a legal distributor 'The Core' for ipod and we have numerous legal retail outlets.

We don't however have access to an official iTunes site.

We would justifiably like to keep our iTouch hardware current and benefit from newly released features.

Since you seem to be an authority, how do we achieve this!!!

As a first step I would contact my local retailer.

Second you could contact the iTS via this page and use the appropriate link - at the bottom of each page should be a 'contact' link. http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/store/

MJ

D46 & niteowl, I have contacted the Hosts for the forums to try to find out if there is a workaround for iPod Touch owners in locations without an iTunes store. It is being checked on & the Hosts will let me know. I will post back when I hear anything.

Thank you Mike and StarDeb55.

I have tried to contact Apple but as yet no response

Distributors are generally geared up for 'moving boxes' and not much else.
Can't blame them I guess!

We will await StarDeb55 feedback.

Appreciate your assistance and effort in this regard.
Thanks very much.

You're welcome! Please be patient & I assure you that I will keep this at the forefront for the Hosts attention. I will let you know when I hear something either way.

Trying hard to be patient - any news please StarDeb55

Unfortunately, no.