And so you can import it, assuming your country's laws permit.
But if you want the content owner to sell it to you directly, you'll have to wait for them want to do so. The reasons for them not wanting to do so could include laws, expenses, or other craziness that you aren't aware of.
Believe it or not, we experience the same crap here in the US in regards to foreign stuff. BBC shows are really popular here, but are usually delayed at best. Trying to find foreign-language stuff is almost impossible.
So while I share your pain, I also know that there's more to it than it might appear at first glance.
> But if you want the content owner to sell it to you directly, you'll have to wait for them want to do so.
.. or use BitTorrent!
If the content owner refuses to sell the content to someone, then that person isn't depriving them of any income by pirating it. If an activity harms no-one, then it can't be immoral to do it. If the law says otherwise, it's a bad law.
The content owner would argue something along the lines that you're depriving them the opportunity to have a market to sell that show to a distributor (TV channel, DVD wholesaler, etc) in your area.
The potential value of any distribution deal falls as the original need is satisfied via the use of unauthorized distribution methods.
Having said that, I don't feel particularly bad about downloading stuff that's never released in my market.
If someone refuses to sell you the Mona Lisa for the price you want, it's okay to copy it?
Because let's be honest, they aren't just refusing to sell the TV episode to you... They're refusing to sell it at market rates. If you offered them a million dollars for the latest episode of XYZ show, they'd make it happen on your schedule.
What you're saying is that if you can't have it your way, it's perfectly ethical to just take it. And I can't agree with that.
It's a bit more than that because content consumption has become a large part of 'our' culture. So this encroaches more and more into the realm of restricting culture to the benefit of business.
A couple of points:
1. When you (content companies) spend exorbitant amounts of money on advertising/PR in an attempt to whip up a frenzy around consumption of your content, then don't act surprised when people mimic hard-drug addicts and lying,cheat,steal,etc just to be able to consume that content when they are prevented from consuming it otherwise. You're basically spending a lot of time trying to increase demand for your product. Now you've got so much demand that people are finding 'alternative' ways to obtain your product because you are unwilling or unable to provide a more legit avenue for them to obtain it.
2. The large and wide success of large content companies has brought content consumption (especially for particular brands) into the realm of popular culture. As the world becomes smaller and smaller due to the globalization effects of the Internet (amongst other things), the idea that you can easily divide people up by who is or isn't allowed to participate in that culture (and expect people to just abide by those proclamations) is foolish.
But if you want the content owner to sell it to you directly, you'll have to wait for them want to do so. The reasons for them not wanting to do so could include laws, expenses, or other craziness that you aren't aware of.
Believe it or not, we experience the same crap here in the US in regards to foreign stuff. BBC shows are really popular here, but are usually delayed at best. Trying to find foreign-language stuff is almost impossible.
So while I share your pain, I also know that there's more to it than it might appear at first glance.