People need to stand up and say this isn't right. Taxes are governments only tool for redistributing wealth and decades of tax cuts have crippled most governments and increased the disparity between income classes. Infrastructure is crumbling, education is failing and minimum wages do not keep up with real inflation so the poor become poorer each year. Western societies need to tax wealth heavily, both personal and corporate in order to sustain the society that creates the wealth in the first place. Corporations have managed to gain the status of a person so they should be taxed at the same rate as everyone else. Taxes should be paid in the country and state where the income was generated, no more tax havens.
The economic period after WWII was characterized by taxation of wealth and investment in infrastructure. The improved infrastructure encouraged investment in industry and the US became an economic juggernaut. In the 1980's California voters approved a state tax cut that began a tax cut mentality which has lasted until the present day. The tax cuts did initially improve economics but over time they have starved governments of the ability to maintain the infrastructure that supports economic activity. Tax cuts also funneled ever more wealth into the hands of fewer and fewer people who don't spend it.
If corporations are taxed at 50% on profits of $400 million, they will still continue to operate because $200 million is better than nothing. Also corporations should pay taxes in the jurisdictions that the income was earned. People can't live and work in the US and then claim that they actually reside in the Cayman Islands and thus don't have to pay US taxes. Corporations shouldn't be able to do that either.
Take the garment industry. For generations designers have come out with new designs each season and the mass market copies these new styles. The designer still makes her money on the real thing and the mass market producers satisfy demand for the style. Without the mass market producers making new styles available to the masses, new styles can't become popular. If new styles don't become popular the rich won't wear them either so the designers will lose their customers also. In the garment industry, protecting rights to designs hurts everyone including the designer. Not protecting designs keeps a healthy garment industry constantly renewing itself.
When there is too much protection in the market place, no one can sell anything. The EU has opened that door and law suits are about the flood through it. Everyone will be protecting whatever they make and trying to stop everyone else from making the same thing. Everyone will be suing everyone else and the market place will come to a complete stand still. It is starting in electronics with phones and tablets but will quickly move to fashion and every other portion of the market. It won't take long, it just takes one company to start doing it and everyone will have no choice but to follow.
With the community design in the EU there will be only one maker of any particular shape of thing. Only Apple iPads unless it isn't a tablet. Everyone will be robbed of stylish clothing because there will be only one maker of each shirt, pant, dress, skirt, blouse, gown, etc. The fashion industry will come crashing down. Furniture makers will have only one design of each piece of furniture because someone else will already have all other possible designs protected. Books and book covers. Cutlery. Plates. Everything you can think of will have only one design from one maker. People will stop buying because there won't be any choice. This law is a suicide pill for an economy. It's patently absurd.
So yes, they stole from me and you and everyone else on the planet and gave what they stole to corporate interests that probably had no part in producing the art in the first place. In the public domain means I can copy, record make derivative works from and do anything I can think of with that art that is in the public domain. None of that is allowed under copyright so just because a work is available somewhere in some form is not equivalent to the public domain in any sense at all. Without the public domain, there would be no raw material for artists to build on to create new art. The public domain is an essential part of our culture and when it stolen like this we are all poorer because we lose the art that would have been created based on that public domain work.
It is wrong, it is theft and the EU should be ashamed of itself.
Copyrights are supposed to be a bargain where the artist gets a 50 year exclusive right to distribute their work in exchange for releasing the work into the public domain after that term. This is outright theft by the EU from the public domain and we should be making a huge stink about it. If you live in the European Union your culture has just been stolen. Everyone in the EU needs to inundate your representatives with complaints about this because these copyrights have been stolen from each and every one of you!
No doubt some poor schmuck doing something ordinary like buying chewing gum will end up in prison for life when this law gets twisted around by police and prosecutors.
This should snuff out the last vestiges of culture in New Zealand. The RIAA's own recent study found downloaders are their best customers. If this law is effective in stopping downloaders, the New Zealand music industry should collapse completely. That will be funny!
This will enable Microsoft's dream of rented software. You pay every time you use their software. Since Android is free, this is going to flop in the market.
No one will want to pay Microsoft when they can use open source for free.
Idiots quote Florian and idiots post links to his nonsense. He is as close to an expert on patent law as any character on Sesame Street. Any journalist that refers to him seriously is even more of an idiot.
The media industry commissioned a 'real' study of file traders and their effect on sales. They found the file traders were also the best customers. They found that file trading is like radio was in previous decades. File traders download music and films to see if they like them, if they do, they buy them. I don't see anything wrong with that at all. The industry buried the report. Stopping file trading will lead to a complete collapse of the music industry, that is exactly what we need!
On a motorcycle trip through Boston I entered a 2 lane traffic circle. A woman in the inside lane had her turn signal on and she was ahead so she had right of way. I gave her plenty of room to change lanes. She slowed down, so I slowed down. She slowed down bringing the whole circle nearly to a stop but she would not change lanes. My exit came up so I got off but I'm sure she went round and round that circle till she ran out of gas.
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People need to stand up and say this isn't right. Taxes are governments only tool for redistributing wealth and decades of tax cuts have crippled most governments and increased the disparity between income classes. Infrastructure is crumbling, education is failing and minimum wages do not keep up with real inflation so the poor become poorer each year. Western societies need to tax wealth heavily, both personal and corporate in order to sustain the society that creates the wealth in the first place. Corporations have managed to gain the status of a person so they should be taxed at the same rate as everyone else. Taxes should be paid in the country and state where the income was generated, no more tax havens. The economic period after WWII was characterized by taxation of wealth and investment in infrastructure. The improved infrastructure encouraged investment in industry and the US became an economic juggernaut. In the 1980's California voters approved a state tax cut that began a tax cut mentality which has lasted until the present day. The tax cuts did initially improve economics but over time they have starved governments of the ability to maintain the infrastructure that supports economic activity. Tax cuts also funneled ever more wealth into the hands of fewer and fewer people who don't spend it. If corporations are taxed at 50% on profits of $400 million, they will still continue to operate because $200 million is better than nothing. Also corporations should pay taxes in the jurisdictions that the income was earned. People can't live and work in the US and then claim that they actually reside in the Cayman Islands and thus don't have to pay US taxes. Corporations shouldn't be able to do that either.
Now we know why they left, the politicians!
Take the garment industry. For generations designers have come out with new designs each season and the mass market copies these new styles. The designer still makes her money on the real thing and the mass market producers satisfy demand for the style. Without the mass market producers making new styles available to the masses, new styles can't become popular. If new styles don't become popular the rich won't wear them either so the designers will lose their customers also. In the garment industry, protecting rights to designs hurts everyone including the designer. Not protecting designs keeps a healthy garment industry constantly renewing itself. When there is too much protection in the market place, no one can sell anything. The EU has opened that door and law suits are about the flood through it. Everyone will be protecting whatever they make and trying to stop everyone else from making the same thing. Everyone will be suing everyone else and the market place will come to a complete stand still. It is starting in electronics with phones and tablets but will quickly move to fashion and every other portion of the market. It won't take long, it just takes one company to start doing it and everyone will have no choice but to follow.
With the community design in the EU there will be only one maker of any particular shape of thing. Only Apple iPads unless it isn't a tablet. Everyone will be robbed of stylish clothing because there will be only one maker of each shirt, pant, dress, skirt, blouse, gown, etc. The fashion industry will come crashing down. Furniture makers will have only one design of each piece of furniture because someone else will already have all other possible designs protected. Books and book covers. Cutlery. Plates. Everything you can think of will have only one design from one maker. People will stop buying because there won't be any choice. This law is a suicide pill for an economy. It's patently absurd.
They're citizens?
It's a bit hard to see how they filter out patent infringements, but doing so probably violates someones patent!
you've got a friend in me.
Stalking laws should be amended to include collecting this kind of information by anyone.
Mums are nice.
They need all those extra cycles to screen out porn and violent video games from interstellar communications.
So yes, they stole from me and you and everyone else on the planet and gave what they stole to corporate interests that probably had no part in producing the art in the first place. In the public domain means I can copy, record make derivative works from and do anything I can think of with that art that is in the public domain. None of that is allowed under copyright so just because a work is available somewhere in some form is not equivalent to the public domain in any sense at all. Without the public domain, there would be no raw material for artists to build on to create new art. The public domain is an essential part of our culture and when it stolen like this we are all poorer because we lose the art that would have been created based on that public domain work. It is wrong, it is theft and the EU should be ashamed of itself.
Copyrights are supposed to be a bargain where the artist gets a 50 year exclusive right to distribute their work in exchange for releasing the work into the public domain after that term. This is outright theft by the EU from the public domain and we should be making a huge stink about it. If you live in the European Union your culture has just been stolen. Everyone in the EU needs to inundate your representatives with complaints about this because these copyrights have been stolen from each and every one of you!
Everyone will want it!
No doubt some poor schmuck doing something ordinary like buying chewing gum will end up in prison for life when this law gets twisted around by police and prosecutors.
Use it to secure your Christmas presents!
but can it make toast?
This should snuff out the last vestiges of culture in New Zealand. The RIAA's own recent study found downloaders are their best customers. If this law is effective in stopping downloaders, the New Zealand music industry should collapse completely. That will be funny!
This will enable Microsoft's dream of rented software. You pay every time you use their software. Since Android is free, this is going to flop in the market. No one will want to pay Microsoft when they can use open source for free.
If each defendant is awarded similar fees the total bill for Righthaven could come to 275*35k = $9,625,000. ouch!
Idiots quote Florian and idiots post links to his nonsense. He is as close to an expert on patent law as any character on Sesame Street. Any journalist that refers to him seriously is even more of an idiot.
It would be a nice to have at least one elevator on the planet where that button worked.
The media industry commissioned a 'real' study of file traders and their effect on sales. They found the file traders were also the best customers. They found that file trading is like radio was in previous decades. File traders download music and films to see if they like them, if they do, they buy them. I don't see anything wrong with that at all. The industry buried the report. Stopping file trading will lead to a complete collapse of the music industry, that is exactly what we need!
America will continue to decline until "tax cuts" no longer wins elections. You can't run an empire with no gold.
Release your product everywhere but the US. That is the only way to avoid the Trolls. If enough people do that, maybe the situation will change.
On a motorcycle trip through Boston I entered a 2 lane traffic circle. A woman in the inside lane had her turn signal on and she was ahead so she had right of way. I gave her plenty of room to change lanes. She slowed down, so I slowed down. She slowed down bringing the whole circle nearly to a stop but she would not change lanes. My exit came up so I got off but I'm sure she went round and round that circle till she ran out of gas.