As an expat Brit in Germany, I have been waiting since February to get my hands on a Kindle Fire, which was slated to go on sale in January. Eventually, they released it with the upgrade and it was available from October 25 th.
On looking at the spec, i noted that you can theoretically re=access any digital content that you had previously purchased or purchase in future through the "cloud storage" As my interest is primarily in English language content, for which Amazon UK has a vastly better selection, I purchased my Kindle via Amazon.co.UK. However when trying to have it shipped direct to Germany, the order was redirected to Amazon.de.
Well, there is more than one way to skin a cat, so I re- accessed Amazon through a UK proxy server, and had the item shipped to my fathers UK address, who onward shipped it to me.
Now I have it, I find that I can't access any of the content in Amazon.uk if I am accessing via a German IP address. Not only can I not access the streaming services of Amazon prime from either the US or the UK, I cannot get access to Love Films ( Like Netflix only different) but I cannot even download books from the UK,
Yes there is a selection of English language books and video on Amazon.de, but the choice is probably less than 10% of the UK selection.
I complained to Amazon who confirmed
Quote
Kindle content on Amazon.co.uk is available to UK residents only
Unquote
For more ranting follow over the lopsided orange croissant
OK, so I bought this thing, which can only deliver a fraction of what is advertised,but never mind lets buy some stuff anyway. So I log onto Google.De and fill my virtual shopping basket and press the buy button only to have my purchase rejected because my credit card is from a UK bank with a UK Billing address.
I eventually find a workaround by buying stuff (ebooks) on my laptop through a UK proxy server with a UK credit card, which for some reason is automatically downloaded onto my Kindle Fire. However, when for example I want to download a freeware version of Angrybirds, it won't download to my Kindle because of the credit card issue (wtf - its freeware) and it won't go to my laptop because it only sends to mobile based hardware - phones tablets.
So basically I chucked out around $250 for a THIN BLACK DOOR STOP.
So just to complete the rant, it would seem that their policies are in breach of the European free trade laws that allows free commerce across the EU, and to add insult to injury, Amazon has been spotlighted, along with Starbucks and Google as masters of tax avoidance in Europe, using various shell companies in the Netherlands, Ireland, and the Channel Islands to divert revenues and profits to avoid VAT and corporation tax.