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Belgium To Tax Rewritable CDs

Posted by timothy on from the hopefull-not-ogg-hours dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The Belgian federal government will quietly introduce a tax on rewritable CDs on May 1, the office of the country's minister of economy confirmed. Officially called a "compensation for personal use," the tax will add 12 euro cents (13 cents) per hour to the price of a CD-R. The proceeds are earmarked for composers, copyright holders and performers. Here is the scoop."

4 of 57 comments (clear)

  1. Copying is fine! by OpperNerd · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So copying music to cdrw is fine, you have already payed.

    --
    -- unix is for people without a social life - Patrick van Eijk
  2. Re:Catching up to America... by Basje · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Maybe someone from Belgium could write a letter to the European Commission. Supporting commercial entities with tax money is illegal in the EU, and will lead to harsh penalties (Sabena anyone?).

    Then make it public the government's illegal support of the recording industry is costing the community a lot of money.

    There are elections in Belgium in 2 months. Make an issue of it.

    --
    the pun is mightier than the sword
  3. Freedom Waffles by n1ywb · · Score: 4, Funny

    In other news, Americans are now referring to "Belgian waffles" as "freedom waffles".

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    -73, de n1ywb
    www.n1ywb.com
  4. Re:Personally by Dyolf+Knip · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Gee, I wish I could lower supplies, decrease the product value, increase prices, and generally piss off my customers and then get the government to augment my mysteriously reduced profit margin.

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    Dyolf Knip