Once upon a time, it wasn’t easy to find an English-language book in Paris (just as it wasn’t easy to find a French-language book in the US). In the days before Internet access, I was partial to the Galignani bookshop. It always impressed me as worldly and sophisticated, with a deep selection of fine arts books, as well as a generalist collection of quality books in French and in English. The store was happy to place single-copy orders for me; the books arrived after several weeks and cost me more than their list price.

Today, this has changed, thanks to amazon.com. I’m now able to get English-language titles quickly and with a choice between English and American editions. Amazon.com has a base in Europe, so I don’t have to worry about customs duties (and delays) or egregious postal (sur)charges (and delays).

Recorded music followed different rules. Because of territorial distribution arrangements, some titles that were easy to find (and inexpensive) in the US were available only as high-priced, hard-to-find imports in France. Online retailers like amazon.com helped ease supply and lessen price differentials, but less than is the case for books. And online retailers like iTunes sometimes can’t deliver: because of territorial distribution arrangements, some songs or albums aren’t available in the French “store”.

Territorial distribution arrangements are even more restrictive for other forms of entertainment, such as movies and television programs. In Paris, where I live, American movies are usually shown in English, subtitled in French. I know that subtitling takes time. But distributors are capable of releasing a subtitled (or dubbed) movie at the same time as its US release. Usually the lag between a US and a French opening is driven by choices of a French distributor, and usually these choices lead to a French opening months after an American release. (Two exceptions are Woody Allen and James Bond pictures, both of which seem to come out in France before their US release.) Because of exploitation “windows”, this delay slows the eventual video release of American pictures in the French market.

The lag and its consequences is even more pronounced for television programs. I’m American, so I have a particular appetite for programming in English; I don’t want or need subtitles, much less dubbing. Thanks to video streaming, content producers could satisfy my demand. I’d be willing to pay for a download or even one-time streamed video; I would also accept commercial breaks. And my consumption of content in this way would not cannibalize from French broadcasters or cable channels: I don’t watch much French TV, especially American programming dubbed into French. A broadcaster can’t lose a pair of eyeballs it never had to begin with.

Unfortunately for me (and others like me), sources of television programming enforce territorial restrictions strictly. iTunes won’t let me download the programs I want, simply because my bank happens to be in France. Streaming services like Hulu are, for now, limited to the US.

I have guarded hope for the future when I read comments such Disney CEO Richard Iger’s to the Financial Times: “the business model that underpins the movie business is changing”.