I suspect the reason for the request is commission payments to sales execs.
The scholarly publishing industry's pay structure was, and maybe still is,
dominated by commissions to sales execs, and sales execs are geographically
based, and it was for that reason that so many sales deals were tied to
geography. In the Internet age, such an approach is untenable, but some
publishers try to cling on to it, asking you to sign a deal with a local
office if you want access in that particular country.
I totally agree with the approach taken by respondents, i.e., refuse to sign
a deal with a publisher with such a restrictive contract, but this might
help explain where the publishers are coming from.
Charles
Professor Charles Oppenheim
Department of Information Science
Loughborough University
Loughborough
Leics LE11 3TU
Tel 01509-223065
Fax 01509-223053
e mail [log in to unmask]
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