why can't I buy tunes from USA or UK when living in Australia when I have a valid credit card?

It's so the people with the distribution rights for the Australian market can change you more. (That is not a facetious answer.)

Michi.

Because the organization that has the distribution rights has decided not to make it available.

Michi.

Its the Global Music and Film industries doing.

They have regional licensing , distribution, publishing contracts that they continue to ENFORCE even through they are obsolete in the borderless electronic world of the 20st century.

A performer can be signed to differing labels and have differing publishers in each domain and mean that tracks may be released at differing times and/or albums may differ.

This leads to differing tracks being available in differing countries.

To enforce Apples compliance it is necessary to restrict your purchasing to the specific national store using the credit card combined with billing address.

(You can't cheat this as the first four digits of your credit card is the country code !)

The T&Cs further enforce these restrictions.

By the way the restrictions are NOT enforced by IP address as many wrongly think !

You could physically use your Australian card and sign in the say the UK and still be allowed to buy and download !

Similarly, here in New Zealand, there is an exemption to the Copyright Act to allow the breaking of DRM (described as a Technical Prevention Measure) on DVDs, Blurays etc. if the purpose of the DRM is to enforce regional restrictions (Section 226 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1994/0143/45.0/DLM346899.html)! Doesn't matter what the rights organisation says!

Therefore it is legal for me to multizone my DVD and Bluray players (and retailers here will do it for you), but I can't multizone my Macbook!

Frustratingly, it is also legal and cheaper, under section 35.a.c (http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1994/0143/45.0/DLM345951.html) for us to buy DVDs and Blurays in the UK (NZ and UK are part of the same Bluray region), but when these purchases include a digital copy, I can't install it as the code can only be redeemed by UK and Ireland iTunes accounts!

Any suggestions as to how we can get Apple to comply with our Copyright law and allow us to get these copies?

The T&Cs further enforce these restrictions.

By the way the restrictions are NOT enforced by IP address as many wrongly think !

Be careful with that one. The compliance to country boundaries is tested on a partial basis. We have had people come to this Forum reporting that Apple disabled their ID for making purchases from outside the country. Said people not only can make no further purchases, they also cannot upgrade apps they previously bought.

Therefore it is legal for me to multizone my DVD and Bluray players (and retailers here will do it for you), but I can't multizone my Macbook!

Frustratingly, it is also legal and cheaper, under section 35.a.c (http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1994/0143/45.0/DLM345951.html) for us to buy DVDs and Blurays in the UK (NZ and UK are part of the same Bluray region), but when these purchases include a digital copy, I can't install it as the code can only be redeemed by UK and Ireland iTunes accounts!

Any suggestions as to how we can get Apple to comply with our Copyright law and allow us to get these copies?

In Australia, region-free DVD players are legal and most DVD players that are sold in retail stores are region-free. In addition, it is legal to modify a DVD player to remove the region lock. However, the legislation does not require a manufacturer to make region-free players available and does not require the manufacturer to remove the lock on a player on request.

I don't know what the legal situation in NZ is. If NZ legislation requires manufacturers to provide unlocked players, you could complain to the NZ consumer protection agency (or whatever it's called over there).

Michi.

I'm not saying that manufacturers are required to provide unlocked players, but if it is legal for me to buy and play the disk, why won't Apple allow me to redeem the digital copy in their store? I have to resort to other means to get a digital copy that I've already paid for!

Chris, If you feel that you were charged for something that you cannot use, then submit your request for a refund or replacement to iTunes Customer Service.

I think you've misunderstood. I've purchased a DVD or Bluray from the UK. I"m legally allowed to play it. The product comes with a digital redemption certificate. I CANNOT use the redemption certificate because I don.t live where some gatekeeper has decided I have to live to watch the product. As I'm not going to go & purchase another copy locally just for the certificate, and the digital copy from iTunes costs more than the physical product, I'm forced to resort to other techniques to get a digital copy.

Chris,

OK, that clarifies things. Since you have no commercial transaction with Apple, there of course would be no point to contacting their Customer Service.

Best regards,

Ed