One of the few urgent problems facing France is that country’s high standard of living, at least judging by a recent decision by a French court to fine Amazon.com for selling books that are not expensive enough. Evidently, Amazon’s low prices meant that too many people were able to afford too many books, or something like that.
So some “booksellers’ union”, seeking to reclaim literacy as the rightful province of the aristocracy, sued Amazon.com for offering free shipping, charging that this practice violated the legal limit on discounts (5% below the publisher’s recommended price), at least with respect to the cheaper-end books. The court agreed, and ordered Amazon.com to stop offering free shipping to the French, or else pay a $1,470-per-day fine.
The “booksellers’ union” praised the decision, saying it would protect the French people from too-low prices. Phew.
