ibooks store is only free books - all ancient classics

ralfel wrote:
What is the problem here?

the problem may be that Apple hasn't obtained the rights to sell the +good stuff+ from the content-owners. i'm facing a similar problem over here in Germany - no English language books to be had.

my workaround is purchasing what i want from amazon.com and use the free [ kindle_|http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_ipad_mktlnd?docId=1000490441] on my iPad.

J GG

ralfel wrote:
I can access the ibook site on my ipad, but all it displays is free books - mostly ancient classics.

How do I get books with a price? New books! I have an itunes account, as I have purchased many apps, so they must know who I am and who to send the bill to.

What is the problem here?

Message was edited by: ralfel

I think you must be missing something... we're both in the UK and I can see hundreds of authors and thousands of titles, both free & paid for in iBooks on my iPhone. Perhaps you've yet to sign in to your account via iBooks so it's only showing public domain content.

tt2

Well, if you are currently located in the UK you ought be able to load a UK gift card onto the account as your IP address will be based here. You're dealing with a crude solution to the problem of transnational copyright control and I guess, as yet, Apple haven't managed to secure an agreement for distibuting copyright content in Belgum, whether in Flemish, French or English.

tt2

Apple probably don't care, money is money after all, but they have to be seen to care in order to make their agreements with the various copyright holders in the different territories and to keep the tax libabilities as easy to manage as possible. The key bit in the terms of service reads:

The Service is available to you only in the United Kingdom. You agree not to use or attempt to use the Service from outside this location. iTunes may use technologies to verify your compliance.

With each national store having its own variation. Restricting cross-border sales eliminates copyright issues, import & export duties and the vararies of varying rates of exchange. I agree this is particularly galling given that fact that we are supposed to have a common market in Europe but there it is.

tt2

Now you've got me worried. I bought and registered my iPad in the US (where I am) with a US credit card and address. But I'll want content with I'm in Bolivia (where I spend much of my time). Will they block that?

I don't know for certain, but you may find you can't make new purchases from the US iTunes store while you are in Bolivia. Your existing content will be fine however. Of course if your account is already established it may not be a problem. I don't know how rigorusly the system is enforced.

tt2

I am having the same problem, i got my mi Ipad in Paris France , but i live in Mozambique and i do not have access to the books store, only the classical free books. And because book stores here do not store much books, one of the reasons to buy the iPad was to get acces to books, and now I can't have it.

Regards

one of the reasons to buy the iPad was to get acces to books, and now I can't have it.

You are not tied to iBooks. Try the Kindle or Nook iPad apps instead.

Also, there are several websites where you can get books besides the Apple store.
I use
Free-eBooks.net
Fictionwise ebooks
Manybooks.net
Gutenberg
eReader.com
etc.

Thank you all for the websites

I am now using kindle
thanks

I seem to be having the same issue - in Australia.

I can't seem to find any decent books on iBooks.

Can someone help? I joined mypadmedia for $50 but is it worth it as I can only find the same free old Books? What am i doing wrong?

Thanks
Bron

It should work. My sister lives in Bahrain and they use their US iTunes Music Store account all the time to buy/rent movies and so on. People outside the US open accounts on the US iTunes store using gift cards and fake, friend's or relative's addresses all the time.

I was located in Hong Kong for a few years and got my iPhone there so I signed up to the Hong Kong app store (there is no iTunes store at all and the iBook Store also only has the free books). It is a bit frustrating because not all apps are release worldwide (e.g. I had to get the Find My iPhone app via my girlfriend's UK account and Home Sharing). In any case, now back in the UK I still use the HK app store. If I want to gift things to my girlfriend I have to use my UK account because gifts only work in the country of the gifting account.

In short, every country has it's own, separate iTunes/App/iBook Store with it's own product catalogue. When Apple first started selling movies, it was only in the US. Now it's also in the UK and other countries perhaps, too.

Eventually iBook Stores across the world might have the same catalogue as the US one, or at least a full country specific catalogue.