Restrictive Sales Practices on the Web?

Ed Almos asks: "I don't know about other Slashdot readers, who happen to live outside the US, but I'm in Hungary, and am finding it more and more difficult to purchase goods and services over the web. The sites are there, the money is in my account, but the sites won't sell me anything! Can someone come up with a logical reason for these policies? Last time I checked I was using the WORLD Wide Web, and there seems little point wasting bandwidth to post your website to the world when only those living in the USA can buy and/or use the product. Then again, is this yet another example of the Internet and the rest of the world becoming more and more centered on the continental USA? The final irony? I'm originally from Maine. These folk won't even sell to one of their own!"

"Here are a few examples:

IBM, Apple and Dell operate web stores that sell almost their entire range of kit, they only ship to the USA. Power Notebooks have the same policy but cite different reasons (see below). Some manufacturers have local country websites but these offer a restricted range compared to the main site.

Apple has their new iTunes system. As I am outside the USA they will not let me logon to the system.

Amazon.com are willing to sell me books but nothing else.

The reasons for this policy range from the (almost) reasonable to the downright silly. Amazon cite difficulties with warranty returns as their reason and while most of the rest won't tell me why they don't want my business Power Notebooks told me that recent anti-terrorist legislation stops them from exporting equipment. Quite why they cannot export a notebook originally manufactured in the Far East is beyond me.

Getting the kit to me in Hungary is no problem either. FedEx and UPS have local offices and if that fails there is always the Hungarian Postal Service. Shipping time from the USA can be as short as two working days, I know this because my company obtains spares from the USA for our products."

Comments

Re:Didn't you know?

[eht]

if it's funny it should get +1 funny, not +1 informative

Re:those a**holes at Showtime.com

[TheShadow]

They probably got sued by the dumbass French government for airing a show about Nazis.

Re:"Can't be bothered..."

[Gorm the DBA]

Yeah, I know you're a troll...but I can't help it...Lance Armstrong uses no items that are on the banned/restricted list for cyclists. Anything he's on is within the rules for any cyclist.

Now...I freely admit the cycling drug rules make it so that damned near anything is free game (It's almost like that old SNL skit "The All-Drug Olympics"), but he ain't no better than anyone else because of drugs. He's better than anyone else because he's on the bike something like 355 days a year, where most cyclists do a "3 on, 1 off" kind of thing, and he spends more time focusing on the specific mountains and trails the Tour De France is taking in a given year than any other racer out there. In other words, he wins because he tries harder than the rest...and he's gifted, and extraordinarily driven, not because he's hopped up.