Amazon.com has launched its Brazil Kindle Store this morning, offering more than 1.4 million books, including over 13,000 Portuguese-language books and 49 of 60 Veja magazine bestsellers. In addition, the online retailer said its Kindle e-reader will be available in Brazil "in the coming weeks" for a suggested retail price of R$299 (about US$143).
TechCrunch explored several reasons why Amazon's announcement is significant, noting that Brazil and countries like it are "important targets. That's something that has also caught the attention of companies like Apple, which has in the last year also reportedly ramped up its operations in the country."
In other developments today, Google "has added Movies and Books sections to its Google Play store for Brazil... The rollout occurred overnight, and coincides with the launch of Amazon.com.br, which quietly started to sell e-books," the Next Web wrote.
This makes the digital book competition there a three-horse race, since Kobo opened its Brazilian e-bookstore in association with Livraria Cultura late last month.
---
Two South American countries are fighting with Amazon.com for control of the .amazon domain name. The New York Daily News reported that Brazil and Peru, "which account for 73% per cent of the jungle," have lodged formal complaints with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, claiming that the online retailer would stop "the use of this domain for purposes of public interest."
These purposes are "related to the protection, promotion and awareness raising on issues related to the Amazon biome," according to the complaint, and a ruling in Amazon.com's favor would "hinder the possibility of use of this domain to congregate web pages related to the population inhabiting the geographical region."
ICANN will send the online retailer an "early warning" to ask for the firm's reasons for applying to use the .amazon name, the Daily News wrote, adding that it "will then weigh both sides of the argument, and make its final decision as to who should be allowed to use it."
"I would have to say, yes, there is a possibility that the domain will not be approved," said ICANN spokesman Andrew Robertson. "There is an approval process and we are still in it. It was always anticipated that there would be objections by governments. It’s a completely new take."
