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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."
But computers do have legitimate uses other than music/movie/software piracy. Some people do actually buy legit software to run on their computers and do legit things on them such as writing letters, email, browsing the net.
I personally think that law is crap but thankfully I don't live in Germany.
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
From the article:
"Blank magnetic media, especially recordable CDs"
Yes, because CDs are magnetic...
But on a more serious note, they are calling everybody who buys a computer a theif. No questioning use. No checking if the computer will even be connected to the internet.
Everybody. Every man, woman and child. Every office assistant, every student.
Let's pretend that the computers sold are $700. That's not including the monitor (which is used to see what pirated files you want to download), printer (which is used to print labels for your pirated CDs), or any other peripherals (such as your speakers, used to play the latest pirated Rammestien singles). They get $13 right off the bat. Now, let's add another $112 for the 16%. That means that on a $700 computer, you have to pay an additional $130, not including peripherals / other sales taxes.
I work at a retail store. We sell about 6 computers per week. Multiply that by the amount of stores in Germany, and that number by $130.
And the recording industry needs how much more money to pay for the pirated CD sales losses?
Work sucked, until it became unemployment, when it became slightly more tolerable. -Tet
Im so glad I live in a country where Im innocent until proven guilt by a court of my peers.
errr... Im sorry Mr Ashcroft, your right.. I was having evil thoughts, Im guilty of thought crime. Yes we are at war with the people from the east.
Otherwise, don't charge me for PreCrime(TM).
So, what makes the item a computer? If someone goes into a different store to buy each part and assembles a computer, which store do they get charged the extra $13 at? The one they bought the cpu at? Well, that could be an upgrade. So could a new motherboard. In fact, the only thing I think they could use their tenuous logic to justify would be a hard drive. In that case, what if I build a computer with two drives?
Aside from the logic problem of defining what part should be taxed as the computer, this ignores, for example, servers. Do people installing servers at an ISP get to ask for their $13 back for every box they build to serve, say, the billing system or internal database? Who tracks that?
Finally, I find the article's mention of precedent interesting. The article mentions that none of the money collected to date in Canada has yet to get to the members its supposed to go to.
While the article has a decided tilt and is certainly not unbiased reporting, I find the collective sum to be appalling, and hope the measure gets a sound thrashing, along with whoever proposed it.
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.
With all the taxes and assorted fees being placed on CD-Rs and presumably DVD-R's, what are we supposed to use for legitimate backup purposes? Will it get to a point where normal people can't afford DVD-R's because the MPAA is afraid they will copy commercial DVD's? CD-R's and DVD-R's are the largest writeable media format for backup right now, but soon we won't be able to use them because of outrageous taxes. I was excited to hear that DVD writers would be available commercially but at this rate, normal folks won't be able to afford media due to taxes.
I have one more observation. Why don't they tax CD players, which are obviously necessary to listen to the pirated CDs. Computers have so many uses, yet CD players have only one. And what if I buy a Computer with NO CD-Rom drive? What then? How do I then pirate music?
So many questions, so little karma.
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.
Do you have to register your beer to prove you paid your sales tax on it?
If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
Perhaps there should be a 20% tax levied on all computers purchased without Windows. I suggest that this money goes straight to Microsoft, as everyone knows that anyone buying a computer without Windows is really in fact just pirating it.
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...
NGWave - Fast Sound Editor for Windows
BTW, the VG Wort (and the VG Bild-Kunst (image-art)) claim that this strengthens the right to make a private copy. The hardware-makers protesting this (like HP) would rather use DRM and TCPA. (Article in German
Lars T.
To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck