Eight years ago, the federal government faced a hot-button cultural policy issue as online retail giant Amazon.com, which was already selling millions of dollars of books to Canadians from its U.S.-based site, sought entry into the Canadian market.  Canadian investment regulations posed a significant barrier, however, since the law required government approval for foreign investment in the book publishing and distribution sectors.

My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that Amazon was ultimately granted a form of non-entry entry.  The company established Amazon.ca, but did not set up shop in Canada.  Instead, it outsourced distribution to Canada Post, enabling the government to rule that the company’s plans fell outside the book distribution restrictions.

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