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Dutch Gov. Wants To Tax Online Media To Fund Print
Godefricus writes "Outrage ensued among Dutch techie and media websites, after a government report advised that the dwindling print media industry should be financially supported by the online industry (Google translation; Dutch original here). The idea is to help the old media fund 'innovative initiatives.' The suggested implementation of the plan is by taxing a percentage of each ISP subscription, and give the money to the papers. The report, which was solicited by the Dutch parliament and written by a committee of its members, specifically states that 'news and the gathering of news stories is not free, and the public must be made aware of that.' The report is not conclusive, but from here it's just one step toward a legislative proposal. Both industries are largely privately owned in The Netherlands, and the current government is center-left wing. Who needs an RIAA if you can build one into your government? And hey, why invest in the future if you can invest in the past?"
Internet in the Netherlands is already taxed with 19% BTW (VAT, not quite sales tax), let alone all the other taxes - Water is taxed about 6 times if you count 'em all (at least the rate is 6% after drinking water, what a fucking great silver lining that is).
I can understand the concept of having certain taxes being related to usage - no road tax unless you own a car etc. - but in the Netherlands you pay anything up to 50%+ income tax (which has been pre-taxed by employer's tax), and THEN everything you want after that is taxed extra already.
If - as a nation - you have fucking (50%+) high income tax, then fucking budget it to cover basic needs, like sewers and roads. If you have fucking (19%) high sales tax (more for cigarettes), then fucking use it to cover whatever is being taxed.
I can even live with the idea that old media and new media are part of the same thing, and thus some of the sales taxes on the lot of them might be spent disproportionately on ailing media. But the real problem for the "quality" print media is that every station in the major cities has free print media, which readers can consume during a commute and typically leave on the seats of buses and trams everywhere.
metronieuws.nl and spitsnieuws.nl are getting sufficient print readers to encourage advertisers to read.
Fuck the Dutch and their fucking tax attitudes, though.
The Marxist Socialist Media (MSM) here in the states is finding it increasingly difficult to convince the public to pay to be lied to.
I guess the MSM in the netherlands is running into the same problem. In true leftist form, they propose that the government extort money from the people to pay for that which the public has disregarded as worthless.
Can't have the plebes going through life without propaganda to tell them what to think and who to hate now can we?
Muslim community leaders warn of backlash from tomorrow morning's terrorist attack.
No, no no, you don't understand at all how politics in Eurostan work.
If a committee proposes something, this means "The government wants it, it is law, reach for your guns!"
Not sure if you are trolling or not. If you are.... good one.... and you must really hate journalists. If you are serious I'm pretty sure only journalists who completely suck are going to appreciate you suggesting that they should turn in their careers to write marketing shlock. That is seriously.... cold.
@de_machina