In italy we had the same tax introduced some years ago. But they didn't forget to tax every mass storage media. so we can't just spare money buying hard drives.. they are taxed too! The good news is that prices of blank disks didn't increase as much as I expected, because of illegal parallel importation from other countries of europe without the same tax that leveled prices in shops. I believe producers of blank media had a huge profits loss. now that the same tax is being introduced in other EU countries it will be a bit more difficult to get low cost blank medias.Anyway I don't think it's a right tax, because everyone pays for crimes only few do: piracy. It's like giving a month in jail for everyone 'cause just a few minority breaks the law! statistical justice!
Paying for something we didn't commit it's a strange definition of justice!
I just want to focus on the timeline of EUCD implementation over European countries.
Delaying the implementation among each country keeps the number of oppositors against it divided (and thus weakened), just those of one nation each time. They would have faced a different (and more consistent) opposition to EUCD if they had set it on in all countries at the same time. Obviously they did ponder it and act consequently.
In Italy where it has been implemented on 29 April 2003, street prices raised a new level as a consequence of the EUCD act, yet original CDroms, DVD, book and other intellectual material are still remaining at untolerable high prices.
This seems to me a confirmation that EUCD is only helping great companies to earn even more, without giving anything better (in price or quality) to the public. Sadly.
I know that taxing some 0,35$ for each hour of music recordable is a nonsense (because is not considering any possible compression adopted or just the quality of the sound).. yet it is the way they wrote this law.
The purpose (in Italy it is an usual practice) is to be explicitly "unclear, non-specific, obscure, obfuscated".. so the law will be ready to be later bended to benefit major corporations, or to be a sharp tool to shave friends and cut-throat enemies...
In italy (sadly) laws are usually very "hard" on punishments, yet usually systematically not applied... until someone "with power" (politicians, economic lobbies...) need to damage someone else.
This is the core of a weak democracy.
I'm sorry to admit it. 'cause I live it as citizen.
Bending and creating "ad hoc"-new-laws to save "friends" is actually the national sport...;-)
furthermore.. the italian interpretation of the european directive is much more restrictive than what lined-up in the same directive.
What upsets me is :
1) people in the streets still is unaware of what is happening 'cause of systematic disinformation.
2) the new tribute is a sort af anti-piracy law which will increase profits of pirates and labels. People using cd roms for legal purposes will pay for the crimes of someone else.
(I work with graphics, and "waste" many cdr everyday for backup and to send my work to the print-labs, for example). it is my datas, created by me, for my own use. Imagine also people videotaping their cat's birthday. they will have to pay a tribute for someone else who will find now even more convenient to pirate cdroms and dvd which will increase as usual their price, once the market will no more be "anchored" to honest prices by piracy. Silvio Berlusconi (more info about him here) has been elected as italian prime minister after an ad-campaign hammering everywhere those very same words "less taxes for everybody". Now after his election his answer is "everybody pays for (piracy) crimes committed by someone else"... that's the same as saying "give a month of jail to everybody, so statistically justice will be done!".
New antipiracy laws will let prices raise and piracy will be more convenient to pirates, while honest use of mass memories will be taxed and paid by honest people.
what a strange country we live in;-)
Here is the text of this new law ( in italian, sorry).
Here is a website with interesting parts of it commented (italian again, sorry).
Other comments on the new law, in italian .
Slashdot Mirror
In italy we had the same tax introduced some years ago. But they didn't forget to tax every mass storage media. so we can't just spare money buying hard drives.. they are taxed too! The good news is that prices of blank disks didn't increase as much as I expected, because of illegal parallel importation from other countries of europe without the same tax that leveled prices in shops. I believe producers of blank media had a huge profits loss. now that the same tax is being introduced in other EU countries it will be a bit more difficult to get low cost blank medias.Anyway I don't think it's a right tax, because everyone pays for crimes only few do: piracy. It's like giving a month in jail for everyone 'cause just a few minority breaks the law! statistical justice! Paying for something we didn't commit it's a strange definition of justice!
I just want to focus on the timeline of EUCD implementation over European countries. Delaying the implementation among each country keeps the number of oppositors against it divided (and thus weakened), just those of one nation each time. They would have faced a different (and more consistent) opposition to EUCD if they had set it on in all countries at the same time. Obviously they did ponder it and act consequently. In Italy where it has been implemented on 29 April 2003, street prices raised a new level as a consequence of the EUCD act, yet original CDroms, DVD, book and other intellectual material are still remaining at untolerable high prices. This seems to me a confirmation that EUCD is only helping great companies to earn even more, without giving anything better (in price or quality) to the public. Sadly.
I know that taxing some 0,35$ for each hour of music recordable is a nonsense (because is not considering any possible compression adopted or just the quality of the sound).. yet it is the way they wrote this law. The purpose (in Italy it is an usual practice) is to be explicitly "unclear, non-specific, obscure, obfuscated".. so the law will be ready to be later bended to benefit major corporations, or to be a sharp tool to shave friends and cut-throat enemies... In italy (sadly) laws are usually very "hard" on punishments, yet usually systematically not applied... until someone "with power" (politicians, economic lobbies...) need to damage someone else. This is the core of a weak democracy. I'm sorry to admit it. 'cause I live it as citizen. Bending and creating "ad hoc"-new-laws to save "friends" is actually the national sport... ;-)
furthermore.. the italian interpretation of the european directive is much more restrictive than what lined-up in the same directive.
What upsets me is :
1) people in the streets still is unaware of what is happening 'cause of systematic disinformation.
2) the new tribute is a sort af anti-piracy law which will increase profits of pirates and labels. People using cd roms for legal purposes will pay for the crimes of someone else.
(I work with graphics, and "waste" many cdr everyday for backup and to send my work to the print-labs, for example). it is my datas, created by me, for my own use. Imagine also people videotaping their cat's birthday. they will have to pay a tribute for someone else who will find now even more convenient to pirate cdroms and dvd which will increase as usual their price, once the market will no more be "anchored" to honest prices by piracy. Silvio Berlusconi (more info about him here) has been elected as italian prime minister after an ad-campaign hammering everywhere those very same words "less taxes for everybody". Now after his election his answer is "everybody pays for (piracy) crimes committed by someone else"... that's the same as saying "give a month of jail to everybody, so statistically justice will be done!".
New antipiracy laws will let prices raise and piracy will be more convenient to pirates, while honest use of mass memories will be taxed and paid by honest people.
what a strange country we live in ;-)
Here is the text of this new law ( in italian, sorry).
Here is a website with interesting parts of it commented (italian again, sorry).
Other comments on the new law, in italian .