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New Irish Internet Tax?

Posted by samzenpus on from the new-pot-of-gold dept.

MarkDennehy writes "The Broadcasting Bill 2009 (currently in the last stages of becoming the Broadcasting Act 2009 and then being commenced into law in Ireland) has thrown up a rather unpleasant little nugget for broadband users in Ireland. It now defines a television set as being an electronic apparatus able to receive TV signals or 'any software or assembly comprising such apparatus' which would mean that even if you haven't got a television set, even if you don't watch streaming content from RTE.ie (the state broadcaster's website), you'd still have to pay 160 euro a year for a television license for your iPhone, or netbook, or laptop or desktop if you have fixed or mobile broadband."

6 of 242 comments (clear)

  1. Ok I'll Bite... by Umuri · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So what you're saying is that since the state provides a service, if you could use that service you should pay for it?

    How is this different from, oh, say EVERY OTHER STATE SPONSORED SYSTEM IN EXISTENCE for broadcasting.

    Yes, you may not use it, but most people don't use all the roads either.

    I applaud them for making the technological leap to being able to provide it online and REALIZE that online is the same effective use.

    Now, i do have two questions.

    Is the cost to distribute online around the same as the TV cost? If so, sure go nuts with it.

    Is the license per household like a lot of other state TV licenses. If it's not, i see an issue with it.

    IF it's per household and it reflects the cost to run it, i say more power to them.

    We should be applauding efforts like this to adapt technologically and that are put forth by people who apparently have a grip on the actual issue.

    Not just getting mad because it's a tax. Taxes have purposes. I return to my earlier car analogy of driving on all roads.

    --
    You never realize how much manually made unmanaged "linked" lists suck, till you have src.link.link.link.link...
    1. Re:Ok I'll Bite... by omar.sahal · · Score: 5, Insightful
      • Is the cost to distribute online around the same as the TV cost?
      • Is the license per household like a lot of other state TV licenses. If it's not, i see an issue with it.

      fuck you, pay me
      The govenment

    2. Re:Ok I'll Bite... by Mr.+Underbridge · · Score: 4, Insightful

      How is this different from, oh, say EVERY OTHER STATE SPONSORED SYSTEM IN EXISTENCE for broadcasting.

      It's one thing to say that if someone owns a TV, they're probably watching TV. Here, they're saying if you have a computer and broadband, you're watching TV. Bit more of a reach. Sort of like those jurisdictions that place uniform taxes on CD media with the presumption being you're using them for music piracy and not, say, linux ISOs or something.

    3. Re:Ok I'll Bite... by Mr.+Underbridge · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Your TV would have to be a monitor with no ability to tune in to a signal before you could argue exemption for TV licenses, at least in the UK, and Ireland sounds like it has a similar system.

      That's reasonable since 99.99% of TVs are used as...TVs.

      So really, this is just the same: if you have an internet connection, you have the ability to tune in.

      Except for one massive difference: watching TV is NOT the primary use of broadband. Seems to me there's a 'presumptive use' argument missing that should be applied before taxing something. Especially for freaking TV. Really, we need a tax for *entertainment* that needs to be broadly applied not just to people using it, but to anyone using the internet? That's getting your priorities a bit out of order.

      Let's apply your argument to other arenas: if my town enacts a tax on erotica, should Target have to apply the tax if I want to buy candlesticks? See how it's kind of silly to apply a tax blindly because people *might* use it for entertainment? Find a better way to target the tax. Or make it a subscription service with a decoder card, easy and done.

  2. Re:Learn to read your own Bills by Nekomusume · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In other words, hook up a TV tuner card to your PC, and it'll be taxed as a TV. Download your TV programs and it won't be.

  3. Re:More of the same? by shaitand · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yup, it goes hand in hand with other people paying taxes for things don't want, need, or use that you do.

    If you wanted fair you shouldn't have joined a society. Society is about the weak banding together to take from the strong and prevent the strong from taking from them. Whether the strong are the physically strong, militarily strong, intellectually strong, or economically strong.