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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."
It sounds like the German government wants all computers to be built by big foreign companies, and not small German shops.
This level of taxation would cut into the small margin most small shops make. That means no more guys who come up with creative solutions for problems, no more friendly service. Just packages and long queues waiting for some ignoramus at tech support when the thing breaks. (Plus the shipping time.)
The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it. - G.B. Shaw
Otherwise, don't charge me for PreCrime(TM).
That is a common load of bullshit.
Why?
Because business is not about a break-even point.
It is about making profit. Lots and lots of profit. That theory stands if companies are looking to reach a break-even point. If they are selling at cost, they need to add on the part that is lost to break even.
I am not saying that stealing is somehow moral. However, the idea that it has any effect on prices is simply hogwash. Businesses charge what the public is willing to pay, not what they have to.
This is how it works. Everybody supports banning a few things (murder, theft, etc). This is good.
Then a few people start getting wacky. We ban a few more things - hemp, alcohol.
Then guns, model rocket engines, blank CD media.
We either all stick together and fight all victimless "crimes" and prohibition, or we all lose by the precidents we establish against things we don't like.
There were toll roads...and gates and gatekeepers that charged a fee to cross, lest you incur the wrath of the King. This kind of 'spot tax' led to many things, including graft, corruption and turf wars. Eventually, Kings were replaced by nation states and these scenarios of pay-to-pass were seen to be necessary only to offset costs associated with maintaining roads and bridges.
Fast forward to this story, and we find a new use...income stream. And we see the resurgence of graft, corruption and turf wars. Ahh, sweet history, how I love to meet you, again and again.
As I said in some other context: the "slippery slope" argument was old when the first caveman used it against another caveman to explain why cave paintings were a bad idea.
Why is this argument so bad?
Ever hear the story about boiling a frog? Basically, you can boil a frog, and he won't complain, as long as you increase the temperature slowly. Being a cold-blooded animal, frogs only notice temperature changes, not absolute temperatures. So a frog will happily stay in the water while you boil him to death, provided you increase the temperature in small increments.
Windows Product Activation is a small step. TCPA -- itself quite harmless -- is a small step. MS introduces Palladium et al, and it seems to be a small step from activation and TCPA.
Next thing you know, we're not only registering our copy of Windows, we're providing information to verify that we are only using one copy.
Paying an extra tax on blank CDs is bullshit in my opinion. I'm not sure, but I think there is such a "levy" in the US either on CDs, burners, or both. I just picked up a new burner and a 50-pack of CDs today. You know what I have planned for them? Software backups, and fair-use compilations of my favorite songs for the car (from, obviously, legitimately purchased CDs).
I know many, many people who purchase a computer and have no intention of committing piracy, of software or music. I don't know what the situation is in Germany, but I'm sure it's similar, anyway -- I'm sure there are people who buy computers for other purposes.
Here's the problem. If everyone -- and I mean *everyone* -- is violating some particular law, then that law needs to be revisited. Obviously that law isn't for the good of the people, if the people themselves are violating it. So the solution is to change the law -- NOT to tax everyone who is violating it.
If the laws in the US were changed so that copyrights actually expired in a reasonable amount of time -- thus making copyright laws actually useful again -- I think things would be okay.
I'm sure Germany's situation would be similar...
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