Germany Prepares Copyright Tax
from the ouch dept
Germany is getting ready to enforce a law that passed three years ago mandating that every computer impose a "copyright levy" of $13 + a 16% tax, with the money going to copyright holders to reimburse them for the copyright violations that computer users may have performed. Interesting logic behind this law, which is basically just makes the case that everyone must be guilty of copyright infringement (you can't even plead innocence) and therefore needs to pay up. Doesn't seem to fit in places where you're supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. I don't see how it's fair to assume that any computer must be used to violate intellectual property when the vast majority of uses for a computer have nothing to do with other's intellectual property.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Giving permission?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
German taxes
[ link to this | view in chronology ]