France bans Amazon free delivery of discount books
French MPs on Thursday unanimously voted to stop online retailers like Amazon from offering free deliveries on discounted books, in a move to protect the country’s small bookshops.
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French law requires publishers to set up a standard selling price for each book published or imported.
Discounts are allowed up to five per cent to protect small shops from competition from big retailers.
Online booksellers like Amazon were previously allowed to offer free deliveries of discounted books, which will now be forbidden.
Culture Minister Aurélie Filipetti said the adoption of the law showed France was committed to protecting booksellers across the country.
The market share for online book sales has expanded from 3.2 per cent in 2003 to over 13 per cent in 2011, according to a parliamentary review.
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