App Store: Buy before you fly

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 07 April 2010 15:32

Opinion and Analysis

Don't bank on being able to update your iPhone, iPod touch, or (in due course) iPad apps when you're travelling outside Australia.

There are sound reasons - even if they are annoying to the consumer - why Apple and other online retailers place geographical restrictions on the sale and rental of music, movies and books.

Essentially, rights to such content are sold separately for different geographical areas. So companies like Apple can't necessarily rely on the rights they have secured from a US publisher to sell that piece of content to an Australian customer (or vice versa). Even if the rights are obtained for each territory are held, they aren't interchangeable and sales must be accounted for separately.

The easiest way to do this is to limit Australian users to the Australian iTunes Store, US users to the US store, and so on.

But it is unusual for software developers to award exclusive rights to retailers or distributors in particular territories. Even when a vendor entered into an exclusive distribution agreement, there's normally nothing to stop end-users (or even retailers) obtaining the products through alternative channels other than directly to

In the case of iPhone (etc) apps, there is only one reseller, and that's Apple. The iPhone developer agreement states "You hereby appoint Apple and Apple Subsidiaries (collectively "Apple") as Your worldwide agent for the delivery of the Licensed Applications to end-users, during the Delivery Period." Although the agreement also states that Apple gains a non-exclusive agency, that's really just a polite fiction as there is no provision for distribution through any other channel apart from directly to  "devices owned or controlled by You, or owned by individuals who are affiliated with You, that You have specifically registered with Apple".

So why does Apple limit the use of the Australian App Store to users inside the country? Please read on.