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."

Comments

I'll try again.

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Why would you have to register the computer? It's called a "copyright levy" in the article, and a "levy" is "levied" at sale.

You register it so you can prove you paid your tax. The implications should be clear, so let me walk you through again. The concept is that you have to pay a tax because it could be used for copyright violation. It's a tax on a press that might be misused. You don't think this will remain a one time thing, do you? Once you have people thinking that they should pay it once, they will pay again and again. Once you have people paying regularly, you have established a licensing system where your computer can be taken for "misuse" and computer freedom is dead.