Has Jolla abandoned Sailors in the UK?

[ninepine]

Just visited https://shop.jolla.com/ to check the process for downloading a free version of Sailfish X. I’ve had Jolla/Sailfish since the Jolla One and have bought an Xperia 10ii in anticipation of the launch of Sailfish for the phone. I have an XA2 and Xperia 10 Plus both running 4.0 purchased with funds I have as a refund for the Jolla Tablets I ordered.

I am a long term supporter and user of the OS.

I was therefore shocked to see that the page for the Free version of Sailfish X now seems to exclude the UK! The dropdown does not include it and the message “Select a valid choice. GB is not one of the available choices.” is given.

The small print also says “We are currently making Sailfish X available in the countries of the European Union, Norway and Switzerland (“Authorized Countries”). Purchasing Sailfish X outside of the Authorized Countries is prohibited.”

Whether you support Brexit or not this seems crazy. Has Jolla abandoned all the loyal users in the UK and what happens if I want to use my remaining Tablet balance to get another license for my Xperia 10ii ? Is this prohibited?

It’s time for Jolla please to confirm that they will still consider the UK as one of the “Authorized Countries” and allow us to continue to use and support Sailfish.

I trust this is an unintended mistake and we’ll see a quick correction. Thanks.

If you are from the UK please like this post.

[nthn]

I suppose the issue is that the UK not only broke ties with the EU, but also with the EEA (although that doesn’t really explain Iceland not being part of the ‘Authorized Countries’), meaning Jolla would have to file a lot of paperwork to do business with UK-based customers.

Regardless of whether the UK is added to the ‘Authorized Countries’ again or not, you can simply pretend you live in one of the ‘Authorized Countries’ and everything will work. People from all over the world have been using the VPN trick for years. Of course this is just a temporary workaround and not a permanent solution.

Edit: I thought I remembered reading about this before. Someone over on TMO asked Jolla, and got the reply below.

Hi,

Thank you for your message!

Unfortunately it is no longer possible to purchase a Sailfish X licence in the UK due to Brexit.

Please stay tuned and follow us at https://blog.jolla.com/ and https://jolla.com/#Newsto get the latest news and updates!

Regards,

Jolla Team
https://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=1571229&postcount=12

[diegoc]

Wait what??? I’ve been waiting for SFOS on Xperia 10 ii all this time and it’s not going to be available in the UK??? Are you serious?

[ninepine]

Thanks @nthn Yes I can of course lie and use a VPN and will do what I need to, within reason, to continue to use and support Sailfish.

Our government do need to make it easier for the EU to do business with us and I don’t blame Jolla.

The fault lies solely with our politicians and that just saddens me immensely.

Still looking forward to Sailfish on the Xperia 10ii.

[edel]

Jolla is not being political here, it is just a legal clause Jolla need to pronounce until Jolla can get all the documentation in order to export to the UK. Due to Jolla’s extremely limited resources, this may take time (all that cost money!)

Now, you, as a citizen, unless specified by your government (and/or enforced) are usually safe from purchasing technology from outside. Of course, nor Jolla or UK’s government can tell you that.
Here in the US we have the same problem, in addition to the different frequencies and technology used that complicate the matter even further; I hope UK does not divert also in the technology too… or go back to imperial measurements

[David]

Britain has no import controls in an effort to minimise the trade sanctions it imposed on itself.

I’d imagine this is a Myriad licensing issue that covers the EU (including Britain until 1st Jan this year).

[unruly]

I live in the U.K and purchased Sailfish X, I just selected Ireland.
I did not use a VPN.

[miecjolla]

Did you give a UK address, but Ireland country ?

[unruly]

Yes I did. ################

[remote]

welcome to the club

three licenses bought, all using EU VPN and paying German VAT
now Germany tax system owes me

[aspergerguy]

At least still offered existing Sailfish customer discount -20.00 EUR which helped.