The 1981 Loi Lang (Lang Law) fixed this with the objective of protecting local independent book stores from competition. The law enshrines the French idea that local, independent book stores are an important part of French cultural life and therefore should be protected. A secondary reason was the protection of small publishing houses (of which France has _a lot_).
I hope that Amazon wins this because they provide a much wider range of books than any local book store, and they don't have surly service (and that's not a stereotype... I live in France :-). Also Amazon should be able to support the small book publisher through the classic 'long tail' of books.
I hope that Amazon wins this because they provide a much wider range of books than any local book store, and they don't have surly service (and that's not a stereotype... I live in France :-). Also Amazon should be able to support the small book publisher through the classic 'long tail' of books.
If you live in France, please consider signing Amazon's petition: http://www.amazon.fr/gp/feature.html/?docId=1000129903#Petit...