| inbluevt | Date: Saturday, 2013/10/26, 1:03 AM | Message # 1 | DMCA |
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French lawmakers unanimously approved a new bill on Thursday aimed at supporting small bookstores struggling in the face of giant online retailers like Amazon. The online giant hit back at France, saying the law was 'discriminatory'.
The bill, which was crafted by the main opposition right-wing UMP party but also has the support of lawmakers on the left, aims to put an end to what some criticise as unfair competition for traditional bookstores. It will seek to restrict the likes of Amazon from combining offers of free deliveries with discounts of up to five percent on books, which is allowed under existing French legislation. Amazon was scathing in its response.
"Any measure aimed at raising the price of books will only reduce French people's spending power and introduce discrimination against online consumers," the company said in a statement to AFP
The bill was unanimously adopted by France's lower house National Assembly on Thursday and was welcomed by independent bookstores like Shakespeare and Company, in Paris. In 1981, the government ruled that editors must set a unique selling price for their books in a bid to protect small retailers, and set a limit of five percent on any discount.
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Message edited by inbluevt - Saturday, 2013/10/26, 1:05 AM |
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