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Germany Mulls A Copyright Levy + VAT For PCs
Willard B. Trophy writes "How does a US$13 plus an extra 16% tax on computers sound? That's what intense lobbying by publishing industry groups has forced the German government to consider. UPI has the story."
That's a lovely summation, IMO.
It's a horrible summation. It ignores the fact that content brokers are only one of the parties affected by piracy.
Look, let's assume that all record companies, for example, evaporate tomorrow. "This Internet thing has really busted our asses," they say, "and we've all decided to move to the country and take up fishing." Suddenly people who want to make a living making music have to distribute their recordings themselves. No big deal; instead of manufacturing and distributing CD's through retail channels, they'll just sell their MP3's over their web sites.
Do you think piracy is going to go away? Do you think that just because the content brokers are out of business, people will decide to give up Kazaa and other pirate-to-pirate (P2P) tools and start paying for their music again? Do you think college kids are going to stop sharing their music collections with anybody who wants to copy them?
Of course not. People don't pirate music because they hate record companies. People pirate music because they want something for nothing. And unless we completely destroy the music economy-- indeed, the media economy as a whole-- that's not going to change.
The problem of digital piracy doesn't just affect the content brokers. They're the ones who are taking it in the shorts, yes, but if they weren't around, it would be the artists who get screwed by it. Blaming the brokers just pushes the problem off on somebody that you don't like.
I write in my journal
HERE HERE!!! Everyone likes to bash America...yet they *ALL* line up to get our $$$ by the BILLIONS each year!!!
It is fun to bash America, yet even more fun to spend our money.
Biting the hand that feeds you. Ungrateful FUCK!
Phredd - "I have found people tend to take you far less seriously once you start waving your genitals at them..."
Twitter thinks we're talking about Microsoft. And he's off his meds again, nach.
Hmmmm... just wanted to check.
This law is being moved forward to punish all of their PC using citizens that may or may not be breaking a law.
Conclusion #1: They are enforcing and placing punitive actions on law abiding citizens.
Yet Germany cannot seem to understand that an A-bomb going off in a city is double plus ungood, and the laws they made to stop him go unenforced.
Conclusion #2: They are not enforcing and placing punitive actions on a known international lawbreaker, the rules of which they helped make.
Thank goodness I am not in Germany. I don't think that I could put up with the punishment of innocent citizens, and then their free attitude about known nutjobs and their planet busting weapons.
Actually, how 'bout you send me an email address? That way you can check 'em before I post 'em!
Note: They'll support Saddam Husein because they can do business with him. If they owe so much to Saddam, how much more do they owe to Bertelsman for handling crucial war-time propaganda? Ah, the Germans get their revenge on the Americans now, teach them a lesson about trying to remove a dictator, especially one who can be good for business. And isn't it so much better to not let the market decide which artists get supported, but instead to leave that to the government committee which will distribute the funds taken from the computer buyers? Yes, computers - so useful when IBM provided them to count the Jews. But now even the Turkish guest workers can afford them. Better to raise the price.
"with their freedom lost all virtue lose" - Milton
You're a fucking moron.