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Germany's New Internet License Fee
PapayaSF writes "Beginning January 1st, Germany will require payment of a license fee of 5.52 euros a month on computers and mobile phones that can access TV and radio programs over the Internet. Like the current TV and radio license fees, the money will support national and local public TV and radio stations. German companies with many computers are predictably upset." I'm not sure if this is the same story we discussed in 2004. Did this original fee go through, and this is another fee on top of the original?
And how about other types of computers?
Officer: I'm here to collect the public TV tax.
Joe: I've already paid for my TV and personal computer.
Officer: But you haven't paid for your other computers.
Joe: I only own one computer!
Officer: From my inspection I have noted that you own 5 pocket calculators, a microwave, a CD player, and a car--all of which are operated by computers.
Joe: But you can't connect them to the Internet. And even if you could they still don't have monitors to view TV shows on!
Officer: But theoretically they could, right? I mean if you flip your calculator upside down I can spell 'boobies.'
Joe: No!
Officer: C'mon! Don't be so stubborn. C'mon!
Joe: Well Ok, I'll sell the car so I can pay the fees for my calculators.
Officer: And by the way, why do you own so many calculators?
Joe:: So I can write "I see boobies I see boobies."
Officer: But you only need 4 for that message.
Joe: I use that one to pay the taxes for the other four.
I have no idea if they actually do detect it, but it isn't very difficult to pick up a signal from a CRT to detect the horizontal/vertical scan and the picture signal; you can correlate that with what is currently being broadcast to be able to show that someone is watching broadcast TV. Doesn't work if you're watching something you recorded off-the-air, though.
I remember an article a year or two ago about being able to reconstruct a TV image simply from the incidental light being reflected off the walls, similar technique. I can't locate the article, though.