小書店生存戰：保護當地書店 法國對亞馬遜訂法規

策劃、編譯■劉耘 法國日前提出一項「反亞馬遜法案」， 不僅是要保護小型獨立書店、延續其自1981年來書籍定價的政策． 更是為了抗衡數家網路公司、改變目前幾乎被美國獨占的數位經濟。 而美國獨立書店增加的趨勢與經驗，或能提供台灣的書店愛好者參考。 （上圖）美國紐約街頭一間獨立書店，圖攝於2008年5月8日。（圖／Dave Cook攝 來源／維基共享資源） 為了保護當地小型書店，法國議員3日通過針對亞馬遜而制訂的法規，禁止網路零售書商在給了最多5％的折扣後還提供免運費服務。 這項法規屬於法國範圍更大的書價及折扣限制規範，此規範是1981年時社會黨政府所通過的法規，當時立法的目的，是要保護小型書店不受超市連鎖店所害。 過去10年來，網路書商使實體書店面臨挑戰，也促使法國的出版商遊說議院修改法規，讓亞馬遜停止他們口中的「傾銷」及「不公平競爭」行為。 根據法國議會報告，2011年書籍的總銷售量中，網路書籍銷售量已經從2003年的3.2％增加至13.1％。不過，法國比起其他國家仍擁有相當多的書店，有大約2千間到2,500間的書店供6,500萬人使用，而人口相當於法國的英國僅有1千間書店。 將書籍定價法規視為文化遺產 「這項書籍定價法規是我們文化遺產的一部分。」發起此法案的保守派議員凱特說。 在社會黨政府的支持下，法國下議院無異議通過這項法規。現在這項法規將送交上議會審議，預計將於今年年底前通過。 亞馬遜：歧視線上購買者 對此，亞馬遜表示：「所有試圖提高網路書價的手段，都會限制法國民眾購得文化作品的能力，也是歧視線上購買者的作法。」不過，這項法案只不過是法國對抗美國網路巨擘行動中最新的一個例子。 9月時，法國資料保護監管機構「資訊與自由全國委員會」對搜尋引擎公司谷歌採取行動，在谷哥忽視法國給予的最後通牒、要求其在3個月內遵守法國當地的相關法規後，資訊與自由全國委員會針對谷歌存取及追蹤使用者資訊的方式祭出罰款。 法國也呼籲歐盟更積極的規範如谷歌、亞馬遜及臉書等全球網路公司，以抗衡這些公司日漸主宰網路交易及服務。 法國數位經濟與創新部部長佩勒林在刊登於《解放報》上的訪談中說到，歐洲老早就需要新的規範力量介入，好在數位經濟中建立公平的競爭環境，並容許歐洲產生能與美國網路巨擘對抗的其他選項。 歐洲急需可執行預防措施的機構 「目前的競爭法完全不適用於瞬息萬變的網路世界。」佩勒林在這篇以法文紀錄的訪談中說到：「要脫離這樣的僵局，歐洲需要一個可執行預防措施的規範機構，在網路各個平台出現衝突和濫用時立刻做出反應。」 這個想法，是法國在10月24即將舉行的歐洲數位經濟、網路及創新高峰會前所提出的提議之一。歐盟消息人士表示，其他措施還包含修改稅法、以確保網路公司依其在歐盟的收益繳納稅款，以及制定更嚴格的網路個人資料保護法規。 法國也在經濟合作暨發展組織和20國集團高峰會等組織內不斷敦促加強稅法，好讓網路公司不能藉著將總部設在花費較低的歐盟成員國來逃稅。亞馬遜和谷歌一直都是法國稅務審查目標。（路透） French lawmakers on Thursday took aim at Amazon to protect local bookshops by voting through a law that bars online booksellers from offering free delivery to customers on top of a maximum 5 percent discount on books. The law is part of France's broader regulation of book prices and curbs on discounting, which was passed in 1981 by the Socialist government at the time to protect small bookshops from supermarket chains. In the past decade, online outlets have challenged physical bookstores, prompting French publishers to lobby for a change in the law to stop what they call Amazon's "dumping （1）" and "unfair competition". According to a French parliamentary report, online book sales rose to 13.1 percent of total book sales in 2011 from 3.2 percent in 2003. The country is still home to more bookstores than most countries with 2,000-2,500 in a country of 65 million people, compared with 1,000 in Britain, which has roughly the same-sized population. "The (book pricing) law is part of our cultural heritage," said conservative lawmaker Christian Kert who sponsored the bill. France's lower chamber, with the support of the Socialist government, passed the law unanimously （2）. It will now go to the Senate, which is expected to pass it by the end of the year. For its part, Amazon said: "All measures that aim to raise the price of books sold online will curb （3） the ability of French people to buy cultural works and discriminates against those who buy online." The proposed law is only the latest example of France taking aim at U.S.-based Internet giants. Last week the country's data protection watchdog CNIL moved closer to fining Google for the way it stores and tracks user information after the search engine ignored a three-month ultimatum （4） to bring its practices in line with local law. France has called on the European Union to regulate global Internet companies such as Google, Amazon and Facebook more aggressively, to counter their growing dominance of online commerce and services. In an interview published by Liberation newspaper, France's minister for the digital economy, Fleur Pellerin, said Europe needed new regulatory powers to intervene much earlier, to level the playing field in the internet economy and allow the emergence of alternatives in Europe to U.S. Web giants. "The current tools of competition law are totally unsuited to the fast-changing world of the Internet," Pellerin said in the interview conducted in French. "To get out of this impasse, Europe needs a regulatory authority to act on an ex-ante basis, as soon as conflicts and abuse emerge on the part of internet platforms." The idea is part of a proposal laid out by France ahead of an Oct. 24 European summit on the digital economy, the Internet and innovation. Other elements include revamping （5） tax rules to ensure Web companies pay tax on the profits they make in the European Union, an EU source said, as well as stricter rules on the protection of personal data online. It is pushing within the OECD and G20 organisations to tighten tax rules to make sure that Internet companies cannot avoid tax by locating their headquarters in low-cost EU countries. Amazon and Google are subject of ongoing tax audits in France.（Reuters） 關鍵字詞： 1.dumping（n.）傾銷 2.unanimously（ad.）全體一致地 3.curb（v.）限制 4.ultimatum（n.）最後通牒 5.revampe（v.）修改