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German Court Sets Copyright Tax on New PCs
graemee pastes: "The District Court of Munich has ordered Fujitsu Siemens Computers to pay a copyright levy on new PCs. The landmark decision, announced on Thursday, ends a nearly two-year dispute between the largely Germany-based computer maker and the country's VG Wort rights society, which has sought compensation for digital copying. VG Wort had filed a suit against Germany's largest PC maker, Fujitsu Siemens, seeking 30 euro (US$41) for each new computer sold in the country. The court agreed to a 12 euro copyright levy."
... vomit in absolute disgust.
Unless of course this completely ligitimises copying c.f. Canada. somehow I doubt it though.
They're already paid for.
(Sure the courts wont see it that way)
~cederic
By doing this, they're legitimizing the same activities they claim to be trying to stop. If you are going to pass a levy to compensate for something, you can't expect anyone to listen when you tell them to stop. They will (rightly) say "I paid an extra tax on this equipment to cover the cost of what I'm doing." They'll either have to stop charging a levy or fin that no one will listen.
i am a soviet space shuttle
I could use a pencil to 'copy' a piece of art. And there should also be a copyright levy on the human voice for the ability to sing along with a song.
this assumes that everyone is a thief and makes the people who make the product pay for what people use their products for, even a legitimate use...which then gets passed onto the consumer. Such a stupid legal move IMO
This just means that german PC sales will drop and the countries surrounding it will benefit. How inane. But at least this semi-legitimizes piracy in Germany (pre-paid).
kin242.net
I hate bureaucracy.
Tax this, tax that, distort the market.
VG Wort have increased the price of PCs to *everyone*. Over the whole of the economy, anyone who uses a PC to create a product or offer a service will now have to charge that much more - which means the entire economy is that much less productive, because there is a fixed amount of money available for investment, and the price of buying a PC based service is now higher.
What's more, the knock on effect is huge, because PCs are vital to so many industries. It will now be that much more expensive to buy *food*, because all the PCs bought by food retailers and wholesalers are that much more expensive; and we ALL buy food!
This sort of ruling, the very fact is can occur, is a hallmark of the danger of concentrating economic power in the hands of political power.
This court has both political power - the right to make decisions - and economic power - the right to make decisions which influence, in this case, a form of taxation.
When political decisions are badly made in the political sphere, the consequences are things like national ID cards, or foreign countries becoming upset with us.
When political decisions are badly made in the economic sphere, there is less choice of goods to buy, they cost more, and everyone, to a greater or lesser extent, becomes poorer.
--
Toby
In America we'd just whine quietly and fork over the extra bucks, like the weak little pussies we are.
Of course that side of the bargain is always conveniently overlooked. I hope this 'success' won't mean similar arrangements in other European countries; but the movie industry would love to collect a tax for private copies we can't make.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
> because they assume you will illegally be using copyright-protected content on your computer.
No, you misunderstood the intent of the law. The intent of the law is not to make you pay in advance for breaking the law, but for extending your rights as consument by compensating the producer.
The tax was levied on copying devices and media because you were allowed to make copies of music and films. Not just for you personally, but also for friends and family.
I speak in past tense, because AFAIK, the law has been somewhat modified.
"Between strong and weak, between rich and poor [...], it is freedom which oppresses and the law which sets free"
Yeah--exactly like we did when gas prices went up. Oh wait--I guess Europe is where they pay outrageous prices for fuel.
So what happens when a record company release a cd that is "copy proof" in a country that has a media levy? Can the consumers then sue that record company as now they now took your money but are trying to stop you from using your right under law to make copies.
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
You'd do what you already do now too: assemble your PC from spare parts.
Visit http://ringbreak.dnd.utwente.nl/~mrjb/growingbettersoftware to download your free copy of the book
Since they can't seem to capture Whitey Bulger, the FBI has decideed to throw all US citizens in jail for three days instead.
"Can't you see that everyone is buying station wagons?"
a 100$ tax is imposed on every vehicle to gather the uncatched speed limit violations.
-- "If A equals success, then the formula is A=X+Y+Z. X is work. Y is play. Z is keep your mouth shut." - Einstein
That's not the same thing. This would be more like paying a Marijuana Tax on potting soil, because you might use the soil to grow marijuana.
Mod down posts with a "Free Mac Mini/iPod" sig, they're spam!
Sounds like a wonderful little protection racket. You pay into the syndicate^wsystem so in the off chance something "bad" bappens to you, you can get help.
And refusing to pay for this "insurance" will no doubt greatly increase the odds of something "bad" happening to you.
Where can I get a piece of this action?
Not unconstitutional. A federal court found that MP3 players were not "blank media" as specified by the law. It is a technicality.
In Soviet America the banks rob you!
You do realize that they're going to attempt to cripple the internet anyway because they are greedy beyond all reason and want it both ways. They desire to stop "copyright infringement" via suing their customers or the general population who wouldn't have bought their content anyway but who would surely like a free copy of Halo or the latest movie that came out, and they desire a tax on all blank media and now PC's simply assuming that all people buying PC's are infringing on their copyrighten works which is of course madness, but if the population allows it to happen what can you do.
Wake up!!!
/.'ers and other geeks. Joe Schmoe have no idea what we are talking about. The average computer user don't donwload music.
I know it is january 1st and you probably have a hang-over, but I got news for you: The public don't care! The only ones who care are
If you mod me down, I *will* introduce you to my sister!
I think it's a bad route to go down taxing one industury and giving the revinue to another, no matter what the reasons behind it are.
The important legal difference is that private copies are legal in Germany.
I would be more impressed with your rant if you knew your facts a bit better. The fact is that there are also similar rights in the US. It is known here as 'fair use'.
is superior to the 18th Century money-comes-first atavism that the U.S.
This seems to fly in the face of this recent decision to pre-tax Siemans to benefit copyright holders based on the assumption that everyone buyig a PC is copyright violater.
German courts took about a week to bitch-slap Darl's minions back into the real world
Really? I didn't think that SCO sued anyone in Germany. The only information I have seen regarding SCO in Germany is that they have been enjoined from making claims regarding copyright violations without revealing more about the factual basis of the claims. While perhaps this is a positive in a case like SCO, it seems to me to be an indication that free-speach rights are pretty weak in Germany.
If the Americans here could stop foaming at the mouth for a few minutes and listen to what the Germans here are trying to tell them they would realize that this not only makes complete sense, but also shows how much more sane the German system is.
If a German company buys a thousand computers for office work, why should they be forced by the government to subsidise the already very lucrative music industry? Despite your claims to the contrary, that makes no sense whatsoever.
If I write and record a song independently, how do I go about claiming my money from computer sales in Germany? I'm not German and don't have a record contract with a major label. But if my song is being copied, I should be able to get something, shouldn't I? Why should the German government help one organisation in particular?
If copying is illegal, and these record companies feel they are being harmed, they already have a response - sue the people doing it. That is the correct response. Something illegal -> stop the illegal actions. Not something illegal -> take money off one industry and give to another.
You have noticed the oil cartels just raped us for hundreds of billions of extra bucks in the U.S.? And it had nothing to do with the government? At least the Europeans get less pollution, get smaller cars with better mileage, and use the taxes on gas for the public good? We in the U.S. gave trillions over to the oil industry -- which will then buy up more of our private sector, bribe the public sector, and make sure we never see a non-oil-based economy established. SUCH A DEAL.
Don't worry. It just means that non-oil economy won't start in the US. US will be forced to follow, though. The oil megacorps will kick and scream while being dragged off the scene, maybe buy few more years of life, but that's about all they will be able to do.
Same like stem cell research. If the clerofascists ban/restrict it in the US, it only means Korea will become the biomed leader.
The world is too big to allow a comparatively small group to stop the progress. Slow down, perhaps - but not stop.
If that percentage were not small, then they cannot be "rich". But your attitude is common among most Americans, and maybe even most humans. We seem to throw logic out the window when it comes to our personal chances.
Perhaps most humans are not as fixated as you are with comparing themselves to their neighbors. Having a comfortable life is one of my goals. Being one of the top x% of the "rich" is not, and I don't lie awake at night concerned that somebody else has more than me. As you and the left continually fail to realize, the economy is not a zero sum game.
How to solve most of our problems: 1.Lots of nuclear plants. 2.Cure aging.
"Has anyone tried defending an infringement suit on the theory that they paid a copyright levy on the media and thus paid for making the copy?"
- Paid-Them? argument :( Although it makes my skin crawl.
I believe they got the law giving them lovely money to compensate them for the FAIR-USE copies.
A beautiful, nasty, WRONG argument, because a copyright holder is not entitled to compensation for Fair Use copying. That's WHY it's called Fair Use: because it is fair for the user to copy without paying.
But it sidetracks the whole Why-Am-I-Being-Sued-For-Copying-When-I've-Already
That's why word meanings are important! You can't let your foe own the win by redefining the terms used in your arguments so that you can't even make yourself understood in the debate. Orwell made this clear. L. Ron Hubbard used word redefinitions (Win, Enemy, etc) in his writings to redefine how his followers thought when certain key words were used, making argument with his ideas impossible. Redefinitions of the word "pirate" and "thief" to describe copying intangibles was intentional on the **AA's part. Bush's PR people reconstituted the simple idea of the word "torture" into the less objectionable "abuse" in the news media. It's all about the words. If your opponent removes your ability to express yourself in words understandable by a third party, you've lost.