France vows to “save the bookstores”: Fixes price of books, bans free shipping by Amazon

France vows to “save the bookstores”: Fixes price of books, bans free shipping by Amazon. Holy merde for brains, Batman, WTF are “books”?

Bonfire of the Absurdities: After 35 year career writing software for IBM mainframes, am now self-employed contractor thinking of joining a union and striking for higher wages. Cured morbid fear of heights when I learned to look at them as lengths standing on end. Uncompromising in refusal to accept browser cookies. Amateur investor who has accumulated a small fortune in the market after starting out years ago with a large one. For recreation, I run, hike, kayak and play tennis but will not consider synchronized swimming under any circumstances.

View Comments (19)

  • The only reason the French would ban free shipping, is because you can't tax something that's free.

  • I live in France. I like it here (and was relieved to have escaped the Former UK), but the French administration is bonkers. I believe they call it "socialism".

  • Amazon has been fantastic for self published authors. It is great for consumers. Obviously there is some kind of situation here where they banded together and put in money in order to twist the arm of a greedy politician. This is just stupid.

  • People in my circle have learned to stop romanticizing book stores when I'm in the room - even (if not especially!) independent book stores.

    For over a century, they have been a scam to help the massive corporate publishers at every turn, and shut out the independent author. I thought I'd be "in" with the independent shops. What a laugh!

    I had to do an end-run around their entire corrupt industry and go to teachers so I could sell my books directly to kids in classrooms.

    I wish the book stores only agony as they collapse - right down to the snotty, leftist clerks who work their counters.

    • It's true that unpublished authors can actually get a start in the E-book genre. At least for now.

  • Wait, how do you "stop free shipping"? What are they gonna do, examine every Amazon transaction? Here's what's gonna happen:

    "Le Retreat by I.B. Runnin, $5.69 plus $1.31 shipping to addresses in France, $7.00 with free shipping everywhere else."

  • If the socialists had come to power sooner france would be an economic power house in buggy whips and wooden shoes.

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