Apple's Terms No Longer Allow ITMS Purchases Outside of US 319
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?"
Don't feel special (Score:4, Informative)
Re:US and Canada? (Score:5, Informative)
No idea, but it's something you don't have to worry about if you get your media from other sources that don't keep on putting up artificial barriers...
works in Vietnam (Score:3, Informative)
I live in Vietnam and regularly purchase apps for my iPhone which, uh, has gained the ability to work here ;).
I saw the warning too but short of setting up some sort of proxy I have no other options but to try and use it here. Fortunately it works (for now).
Geography - not nationality (Score:5, Informative)
This has nothing to do with being an USA citizen and all about where you are geographically located. If you have a credit card registered to a USA address, then you can buy quite happily from the US store (Apple isn't going to know the real story), but not if you have a non-USA address. This policy has been in place since day 1 of the iTunes store, and is in place because of the distribution rights set in place by the record companies, so in reality this is a non-story.
Re:HA HA HA HA (Score:5, Informative)
You know Spotify has done the same? A fair bit of music is unavailable in several countries due to licensing issues.
This isn't Apple, Spotify or any stores fault. It's the music business.
Yay for making it easy for consumers to buy music.
Amazon MP3 (Score:4, Informative)
Try out Amazon MP3 [tinyurl.com].
It's cheap, DRM-less, and easy. Plus, it runs on Linux just fine (32-bit has packages, force it on 64-bit, use getlibs, and it works fine).
YEARwithoutDRM [yearwithoutdrm.com]
Re:You are subject to laws of where you live (Score:3, Informative)
For the record, you can be subject to both the laws of the country where you live and where you were born simultaneously, even if the two are not the same. ;P
American paedophilia and tax laws come to mind...
Re:Do you have a credit card? (Score:3, Informative)
Either they're not checking or the credit card company isn't allowed to disclose the customer's address without a court order, as my canadian card works fine.
--dave
Re:Amazon MP3 (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Amazon MP3 (Score:5, Informative)
Try out Amazon MP3 [tinyurl.com].
It's cheap, DRM-less, and easy. Plus
... it can't be used outside the USA either. Great alternative there.
Re:Geography - not nationality (Score:2, Informative)
yup.
Same thing hits when US card holder tries purchasing electronica from the European iTunes store or Anime Soundtracks from the Japanese store.
If it were not for this aspect of region locking, I would have been a customer.
Re:Quick someone register itunesproxy.com (Score:1, Informative)
Domain Name:ITUNESPROXY.COM
Created On:01-Jan-1970 00:00:00 UTC
Last Updated On:03-Feb-2009 16:51:38 UTC
Expiration Date:03-Feb-2010 16:51:37 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:Vitalwerks Internet Solutions, LLC / No-IP.com
Registrant Name:Austin, Chad
Registrant Organization:
Registrant Street1:ATTN: itunesproxy.com, c/o No-IP.com Registration Privacy
Registrant Street2:P.O. Box 18797
Registrant City:Reno
Registrant State/Province:NV
Registrant Postal Code:89511
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+1.7758531883
Registrant FAX:
Registrant Email:6646d708928830e1-312134@privacy.no-ip.com
Admin Name:Austin, Chad
Admin Street1:ATTN: itunesproxy.com, c/o No-IP.com Registration Privacy
Admin Street2:P.O. Box 18797
Admin City:Reno
Admin State/Province:NV
Admin Postal Code:89511
Admin Country:US
Admin Phone:+1.7758531883
Admin FAX:
Admin Email:6646d708928830e1-312134@privacy.no-ip.com
Re:You are subject to laws of where you live (Score:3, Informative)
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...
Couldn't download it *from the US*.
Re:Amazon MP3 (Score:3, Informative)
And it's not available out side the US and (now) the UK. At all.
Apple offers iTunes stores for most of the countries in the world, you just can't buy from the wrong store.
Re:HA HA HA HA (Score:2, Informative)
What post did you read? Even if Apple excerts pressure on the various companies in the US, it doesn't help them a shit abroad.
Let me rephrase my earlier statement: A song that is licenced by Warner in the USA isn't necessarily under Warner licence in other countries. So when iTMS has an agreement with Warner in the US to sell that music, they cannot necessarily sell it in a different country because Warner may not actually have that licence.
This has absolutely zip to do with DRM, and a lot to do with licencing.
Re:Do you have a credit card? (Score:3, Informative)
But they can turn on the Address Verification System (AVS). You would have to enter your address into the "billing address" fields. While processing the transaction, they can request that the payment provider verify the address. If it doesn't match, they can reject the payment.
By making those fields mandatory, they'll force you to declare the country of origin of your credit card, and they can act (in)appropriately from there.
Mac users: easy to work around.. (Score:3, Informative)
If you have another mac in the USA, enable remote ssh logins into it. (Or really, any server that accepts ssh, but since you fell for the Steve Jobs Reality Distortion Field, I'll assume you're on a mac, and you know others with macs in the USA).
In terminal,
ssh -D 1080 example.com
In network preferences,
Configure your network settings to use a socks proxy on 127.0.0.1:1080
Now, Safari and iTunes both will be browsing *via* example.com, working around any geolocation features Apple and other companies may be using. This setting is principally only honored by Apple apps; it won't affect Firefox for example (though you can configure Firefox to use a socks proxy).
Re:You are subject to laws of where you live (Score:5, Informative)
It is neither of those. The copyright to mein kampf and other Nazi works fell to the state of bavaria, which by copyright simply doesnt allow any copying of mein kampf and hasnt since the second world war. If you happen to have one of the old copies from the WW2, or you bought it a state that doesnt reckognize avarias copyright on it, youre perfectly fine to do anything you want with it. Of course, there are several anti-nazi-agitation laws and selling the book on ebay may invoke some of those laws, but theres nothing specific to this one book and applies to all nazi memorabilia.
Re:You are subject to laws of where you live (Score:1, Informative)
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.
Wow, quick way to invoke Godwin's law. :)
Nevertheless I can not help to point out that "Mein Kampf" is not illegal in Germany. It is perfectly legal to own and sell the book - as long as it is printed before 1945. Because after 1945 the copyright of "Mein Kampf" came to the state of Bavaria, who does not allow reprints. Of course that's for political reasons, but still it is a copyright issue, not due to some law stating that "Mein Kampf" is illegal. It will be inetresting what happens when the copyright ends 2015, 70 years after the death of the author. :)
U.S. territories (Score:2, Informative)
Re:HA HA HA HA (Score:0, Informative)
Why exactly is the parents incoherent rambling modded "Insightful"? The GP wasn't saying anything about DRM, but was talking about international licensing issues.
Re:use torrents (Score:3, Informative)
Made especially funny by the fact that that storefont has never worked in Canada or elsewhere :)
Re:HA HA HA HA (Score:5, Informative)
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.
Re:HA HA HA HA (Score:4, Informative)
What complete and total ass-hattery.
So if DRM serves their profit-driven interests, what does the removal of DRM from every song they sell in the iTunes Store serve in your twisted version of reality?
Now please wipe the foam from your mouth. Yes, Apple exists to make a profit. It seems to me that they do so by making products that people want to own for themselves, and by being an advocate for their customers in their dealings with other companies.
BTW, Microsoft's subscription model (which is way heavier on DRM than iTunes ever was) is virtually ignored because most people consider it vastly inferior. Who wants to pay a fee each and every month to listen to music, only to lose all their music should they stop paying? How many times do you feel the need to pay for that copy of Baba O'Riley anyway?
Yaz.
Use a VPN (Score:2, Informative)