French politicians want to tax tablets for not running Windows

[Michael Haney]

On Fri, Jan 7, 2011 at 11:46 AM, Jan Claeys <lists at janc.be> wrote:
> Bill Cairns schreef op vr 07-01-2011 om 08:54 [+0200]:
>> As I understand it, there is a proposal on the table in France to tax
>> Tablet PCs because (so the theory goes) these are being used to pirate
>> music and DVDs. In France, MP3 players are already subject to a
>> special tax for that reason.
>
> Wrong.
>
> There is no real tax, only contributions that are supposed to go to the
> artists.
>
> And those contributions are not because devices are used for *illegal*
> copying, but because they are used for *legal* copying.  Those
> contributions are in exchange for the law making it legal to rip your
> own CDs (inside the "family circle") and put and/or play the resulting
> file on your MP3-player, tablet, USB disk, etc.
>
> Of course not everybody agrees with that law, and in some cases the
> "contributions" you have to pay are completely out of proportion (not to
> mention you have also to pay them on media that you use for backups).
>
> But again: this has nothing to do with music/video piracy (you can can
> only be fined for breaking the law by a judge, and even a judge can't
> fine you "in case you do something wrong").
>

The whole concept or idea that the music industry is owed money for
personal copying or transferring music onto MP3 players is an idea
that needs to die a very quick and painful death.  Its ridiculous, and
its one of the reasons why the recording industry is dying.

This whole sense of entitlement they have and their mentality that you
don't really own the CDs you buy is ludicrous.  Yes, the artists are
entitled to music, but in reality how much of that money REALLY gets
into the hands of the artists.  Not a whole hell of a lot, and in most
cases not at all.  Its greed, its out of control, and it needs to be
stopped.  The Software Industry is suffering from the same delusions.

-- 
Michael "TheZorch" Haney
"The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking
of morality by religion." ~ Arthur C. Clarke
"The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion and
politics, but it is not the path to knowledge, and there is no place
for it in the endeavor of science. " ~ Carl Sagan

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