Apple's Terms No Longer Allow ITMS Purchases Outside of US

JasonDT writes "I just accepted the new terms of service for iTunes and found that I will no longer be allowed to access US iTunes outside of the United States. This may seem like no big deal but, I am a US citizen living abroad and I regularly purchase and view TV and movies from AppleTV. Not to mention US citizens just traveling abroad. Does anyone know if this has been enforced or have themselves been affected by this?"

Comments

Re:US and Canada?

[geekoid]

Yes, Canada is still outside the US...for now~

HA HA HA HA

[jhfry]

I bet that the poster of this article is exploring his options, after all, he's not allow to purchase his media legally, so perhaps he would be better served by a free alternative?

I am sure Apple did it only to make someone else happy (labels, investors, foreign governments, us government, etc...) however, it's ridiculous to suggest that this will do anything but increase piracy.

Re:HA HA HA HA

[FerociousFerret]

Bought that song on your computer at work? Want to listen to it on your computer at home? Well guess what, charlie, unless you find some obscure bullshit setting in some hidden window in some far off corner of some far off menu in iTunes, $1 more shall go to the Steve.

What??!?!? Do you not know how to transfer a file from one computer to another??? Find the file in your music library, email it to yourself or put it on a thumb drive or whatever, and load it on your home computer. When prompted, input your iTMS account info to get the DRM key to play the file (that is assuming you used a different iTMS account on your work computer than your home computer). Seriously, this "obscure bullshit setting in some hidden window" is just stupid talk.

You are subject to laws of where you live

[ducomputergeek]

not where you were born. When I was an American living and working in Germany, I was subject to the laws of Germany. I couldn't download a browser with more than 40-bit encryption at the time due to export regulations. Yes I was an American citizen, but I wasn't in the united states.
Now, if you are working on behalf of the US government at a diplomatic consulate/mission or in the military, then you may have a gripe, and I believe Apple should do something to work with you. Especially if your billing is to an APO address.

Just because I'm american and we are allowed the freedom of speech inside the US doesn't mean I can have a copy of Mein Kampf in Germany.

Re:You are subject to laws of where you live

[JustinOpinion]

I don't think the submitter is complaining that what iTunes is doing is illegal (or that he should be subject to US law while abroad). I think he is complaining that what iTunes is doing is stupid.

He wants to be a customer. He wants to give them money. But they (iTunes, or whichever content providers require this rule) want to restrict things regionally. These regional restrictions are inconvenient, arbitrary, and illogical in an age of ubiquitous global network connectivity, and easy trans-national travel. Someone abroad can circumvent the restrictions easily with a proxy. Conversely a US citizen on a trip abroad is denied access (whereas it would have been fine if they had downloaded it while in the US and carried it on their computer on the plane). Thus it doesn't seem that the rule accomplishes its nominal goal. Actually for the most part the nominal goal isn't even clear. In short, the restrictions are silly.

Of course it is within iTune's ability (technical and legal) to impose such restrictions. But it just seems illogical, since anywhere that the content is not available through a legitimate source (or available but only after a substantial delay) will simply increase the amount of circumvention (proxy, file sharing, etc.). So why don't these companies want the money being offered to them?

Re:You are subject to laws of where you live

[Anonymous Coward]

It also is quite wrong. It is legal to own "Mein Kampf" in Germany. It is not legal to sell, give or even show it to somebody else. It is also illegal to purchase it as far as I know.
Possession however is fine.

Re:You are subject to laws of where you live

[filthpickle]

Yeah, it breaks down like this: it's illegal to buy it, it's legal to own it but, if you're the proprietor of a kampf bar, it's legal to sell it. It's legal to carry it, which doesn't really matter 'cause â" get a load of this â" if the cops stop you, it's illegal for them to search you.

Re:US and Canada?

[Daniel Weis]

By French, I'll assume you mean freedom.

Re:use torrents

[MightyYar]

He could use that service that we never speak about.

iTunes Plus

[argent]

It's cheap, DRM-less, and easy. And it doesn't install a helper application into your browser, just waiting for someone to figure out how to slide an exploit into a ".amz" file.

For Safari under Leopard, to remove that erroneous tagging of ".amz" as "safe" (there's no such thing as a "safe" file), remove the entry from ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.DownloadAssessment.plist .

Re:US and Canada?

[ColdWetDog]

The TOS specifically mentions the annexation of Canada.

Apple annexed Canada? Just wow. I didn't know that had that much cash on hand.

Well, congrats Steve.

Re:Amazon MP3

[Lars T.]

Try out Amazon MP3.

It's cheap, DRM-less, and easy. Plus

... it can't be used outside the USA either. Great alternative there.

Re:US and Canada?

[denarii]

No, no, it's Russia that wants to annex Alaska.

Fortunately, we have Palin standing on the coast up there keeping a close eye on them.

Re:use torrents

[hedwards]

The Zune store?

Re:US and Canada?

[Zwicky]

Pessimist!

I prefer to think it half empty of French.

Re:US and Canada?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's official then ... Canadians are now officially stylish but pointless.