Apple Sued in France for iPod Music Royalties 818
alex_guy_CA writes "A musicians rights group in France is suing Apple Computer for back royalties due from iPod sales. It seems in France, all CDs, hard drives, and the like owe musicians money in case any of it is used for piracy. Only Apple isn't paying up." I want compensation from sales of Microsoft Windows just in case it is used for spreading viruses.
We're #2! (Score:5, Informative)
If this French musicians rights group wins their case, this could set a precedent for other countries with comparable laws to sue as well.
As a musician [madtracker.net], i feel embarrassed about this lawsuit.
On another note, cue the anti-french sentiment from a post-terror american centric peanut gallery... But at least this gives hope that the USA isn't the most litigious country in the world. Maybe you aren't #1 in everything after all.
Re:We're #2! (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:We're #2! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:We're #2! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:We're #2! (Score:5, Insightful)
If I have to pay for it, it is hardly a right.
Re:We're #2! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:We're #2! (Score:5, Funny)
Hey! Don't try to tie in anti-french sentiment, and post-terror americans!
Allow me to hate the french without any other connected properties you insensitive clod!
Re:Nonsense ! (Score:3, Funny)
(No Karma Bonus, because I keed!)
Gettin' was good (Score:5, Insightful)
Then why isn't the US invading North Korea? There is much evidence of the same kind of Human Rights violations and atrocities that existed in Iraq. Well, the answer is that North Korea is not the World's Second Largest Producer of Oil...
Kim Jong Il is simply not as accessable as Saddam. A surgical operation of the kind that was applied to Iraq could not work in Korea. War with North Korea would mean bloody mayhem for everyone involved, and a huge refugee problem on the Korean peninsula. The US wrecked Saddam's regime because it was vulnerable. He was a bad guy who deserved to come to a bad end. The vast majority of Iraqis would agree. As for the oil, the US will get it like everyone else: at market prices. That is more than I can say for the currupt French and Russian officials who profited from the oil for food shame.
Re:Nonsense ! (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, oil is a strategic natural resource. Iraq is not of interest because Bush or anyone else wants cheap oil. They want control of a strategic resource. Oil represents power, because it represents money and is so critical to the operation of the worlds machinery (literally and figuratively). Being able to control the flow of oil around the world gives the US a great deal of power.
The US barely noticed the genocide of 800,000 Rwandans in 1994. In fact the government took great pains to label it "ethnic cleansing" (and make sure the media did as well) because to call it genocide would invoke treaties which require military intervention to stop genocide. This is just a glaring example of how "strategic interest" governs US policy, not any ethical or moral principles. If it's good for business, if it's good for getting the upper hand over enemies and allies, it's worth the effort.
Human rights is not the reason for invading Iraq, or any of the U.S. involvement in previous years. But to say, "it's about cheap oil" misses the mark a bit. It's about control of oil. If Iraq had nothing but more sand under the sand, Saddam would still be in power. The US has a long and continuing history of upsetting democratic governments and installing despots, supporting vicious human-rights violators, and looking the other way when it comes to people who play ball (Saudi Arabia).
Power and money are the language of America, indeed most of the world. These are what wars are fought over, why people seek office, how the very gears of the global ecomomy works. And the purpose of globalization is to get everybody involved in it who isn't yet. We have created a global system that runs on money and power. To think that this system has any other aim but to continue its own existence and increase the wealth and power of those who run it is illogical.
Re:We're #2! (Score:5, Insightful)
Germany does not hate France and the French are not targets of our jokes except some good-natured ones on their accent when they try to speak german. The British do not hate France either, though they are wary of the Berlin-Paris axis. On the other hand, the french "jokes" from right-wing America were calculated propaganda, no better than the jewish "jokes" told in Hitler Germany. France is a proud nation. It will take time to forgive.
Re:We're #2! (Score:5, Informative)
The only issue I could think of, is if there is a double tax on the players... Such that if Apple is already paying a small tax for each drive they put in the iPod, then the retail sale shouldnt be taxed again. I doubt this is the case though.
That said... I do think these taxes are BS. Its sorta like charging a tax for a blank piece of paper, because I could use it to plagerism someones work... Hmmm... maybe the should tax the pencil too... etc... etc... etc... Taxing something, for one potential use... of which that use is generally illegal is complete crap. Oh well, just another point of why MPAA's lobbying efforts are so effective.
Re:We're #2! (Score:4, Interesting)
It's not a tax, it's a levy. Totally different thing in the eyes of the law.
The only issue I could think of, is if there is a double tax on the players... Such that if Apple is already paying a small tax for each drive they put in the iPod, then the retail sale shouldnt be taxed again. I doubt this is the case though.
The levy is added in to the retail price of the product. If I see CD-Rs for sale at $25, when I go to pay there's no extra levy added to that price, but there are the applicable sales taxes. It's not as bad as what you are assuming, though I'd rather not pay the levy to begin with.
Re:We're #2! (Score:4, Interesting)
I agree about the tax vs levy point... I just chose to use "tax", as thats what the parent thread and origional posting itself used. Nothing like being wrong for the sake of consistancy!
Are you sure the levy is applied at the retail level? If thats the case, it would the responsibility of each and every vender ( the BestBuys and RadioShacks of the world ) to collect and send the monies in. That would seem a terribly inefficent way to handle it. That is why I had assumed it would be at the manufacturers level that the levy got applied... or failing that, at the distributer level.
I honestly dont know where it is though... im not refuting what you said, im just looking for clarification.
Re:We're #2! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:We're #2! (Score:5, Informative)
NOT TRUE.
They *were* considering it for flash memory and PORTABLE hard drives (no one was proposing it for hard drives in general) as well as vastly increased levies for everything else, but those got shot down as they decided that "there is no evidence that music distribution is happening via these mediums" - aka simply the fact that people are listening to their own collections of music on their own CF/micro-HDD are NOT sufficient to incur a levy - the standard is "are people putting music on it and sharing those with friends". As well there are tons of "non infringing uses" of things like CF which probably also weighed on their minds.
So there is now a levy on portable devices with non-removable storage, but it's no where near as much as the industry wanted.
Following is the *complete* list of tarrifs, taken from http://www.sycorp.com/levy/index.htm [sycorp.com], all numbers below in Canadian currency:
21 cents per CDR/CDRW
29 cents per cassette tape over 40 minutes
portable music devices with less than 1 GB NON REMOVABLE memory - $2
portable music devices with less than 10 GB NON REMOVABLE memory - $15
portable music devices with more than 10 GB NON REMOVABLE memory - $25
EVERYTHING ELSE - NO LEVY (that includes DVD R/RWs, removable CF/HDDs, and devices that don't include built in persistent memory).
The retailers are the ones who collect and submit the levies, I don't think the manufacturers have to do anything. So there won't be lawsuits like this here - besides, no-one has as screwy laws and lawsuits as do the French
Re:We're #2! (Score:4, Interesting)
If the retailers ar the ones who collect the levies, would that mean buying levied media from Costco or Sams would remove the levy? Seeing as the entire ( orginal ) intention of these stores was to be a supplier to other retail stores and government employees?
In other words... If I own a small electronics store, and I source my cdr's from priceclub, since they are going to be resold... the levy should fall to me to collect?
Re:We're #2! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:We're #2! (Score:3, Informative)
The relevant portion [cb-cda.gc.ca] of the copyright act (sections 79-82 are of note for this discussion) describes the way that the tarrif works. What it ammounts t
Protection of liberties (Score:5, Interesting)
That's a little trite. One has nothing to do with the other, but it is interesting how laws like this in other countries don't generate the kneejerk reaction they do in the US. The supposedly liberal France and Canada both have such a law. Where are all the open-minded, rights-protecting leaders of such countries when those laws were passed?
Point is every country has some stupid laws. And we Americans have been laughing at the French since looooooong before 9/11. That probably started sometime in 1939 or 1940 at the latest. ;)
Liberties (Score:3, Interesting)
And that shows how the definition of "liberal" has been changing for some time now. I imagine, as you imply, that the authors' "guild" is a front for your recording industry. Another example of a liberal government in bed with big business. Don't g
Re:Americans laughing at the French (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not when the boys got there, it's that they got there.
Re:We're #2! (Score:3, Insightful)
Canajuns: you paid the levy, so download at will (Score:5, Informative)
Canadians who've paid this levy (and who hasn't?) have paid for the copyright provisions that allow anyone to make a copy of someone else's licensed/owned copy of a musical work, LEGALLY.
How it works is this: I buy a CD. I can then loan that CD to any friend, and they can make one copy for personal use. Ad infinitum. They cannot, however, pass that 2nd gen. copy or a copy of that copy on to anyone else.
What it means in the online world is that it is perfectly okay for a canadian to download one copy of an audio work for personal listening. It is NOT okay to then upload a copy of that copy (yes, that breaks the normal practice of P2P networks).
So, canadians, leech on, you paid for it. And loan your CD's around to one person at a time, please. Otherwise, work to squash the levy, and we can move to the US IP laws version (why not we're dropping sovereignty everywhere else, eh! OK I'm bitter).
What a law... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:What a law... (Score:3, Interesting)
Pay up, then stop selling. Refuse to sell so long as that law is in place.
Apple's got the kind of fan base that might make that tactic popular.
Re:What a law... (Score:5, Funny)
"You people are pissed off at us and our 'monopoly?' Fine. You can't have any more Windows. What's more, we're firing all our software engineers, sales and marketing professionals, secretaries, etc. and cashing out our stock."
The US would shit its pants, as would the EU. That'd be thousands of jobs lost, support ended, etc. etc.
I'd be amused.
Re:What a law... (Score:5, Interesting)
Three terms:
* Apple
* Linux
* Emminent Domain.
If MS folds all of a sudden, people can switch to Apple with new hardware, switch to Linux for extant hardware--or the government can just declare emminent domain, and start a new company with the rights to windows. (It'd probably be a stock market purchase, with the money from the stock going right to the "fair price" for MS.)
Re:What a law... (Score:3, Interesting)
"Who is Bill Gates?"
Re:What a law... (Score:5, Insightful)
If Apple loses that means that EVERY hard drive that could potentially hold and play illegal music files - which by my calculations is all of them - is fair game for such a tax.
Not only that, but the iPod is probably the stupidest player to start on - AFAIK it's almost the only player capable of playing LEGAL songs. (via iTMS) ("Almost", because I'm not sure of the status of the iPod clones like the Napster player)
Why not start with something that is physically unable to play legally downloaded files?
Re:What a law... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:What a law... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:What a law... (Score:5, Funny)
Pretty funny how this is always overlooked.
I couldn't agree more, I think I'll go download some music this afternoon. I mean, I already paid for it when I bought my 2 HDs, my Rio, my CD burner, my blank CDRs, etc.
Re:What a law... (Score:4, Insightful)
And as far as hating the French? We American's have disliked the French for *years*. They're rude to our tourists, they maybe bathe once a year, they piss and moan about the dominance of English on the internet, (since to them, French is an obviosly superior language), and then they call US arrogant?
Re:What a law... (Score:3, Informative)
Ditto. I visited Paris last year, and with the exception of the customs agent checking passports at Gare Du Nord, people were not noticeably different towards me than anywhere else I've been. Having said that, I found that people in London were noticeably friendlier than folks here in the U.S.
Re:What a law... (Score:5, Insightful)
Excellent. So we've just settled a lot of debates like gay marriage, the Patriot Act, DMCA, etc, etc.
After all, the law is the law.
no suits from the suits? (Score:5, Interesting)
Does that mean that organizations like the RIAA are prohibited from suing music downloaders because the musicians have already been paid by the state (perhaps through some industry group), or is this just a tax?
Re:no suits from the suits? (Score:3, Informative)
"Does that mean that organizations like the RIAA are prohibited from suing music downloaders because the musicians have already been paid by the state (perhaps through some industry group), or is this just a tax?"
Doubtful. France is a signatory to the Berne Convention and enforces copyright law about as well as any other industrialized country. Such a tariff wouldn't mean throwing out copyright law. Whether French law allows the IFPI (the European equivalent of the RIAA) to sue its citizens for copyr
I don't agree with the law (Score:3, Insightful)
Oh if only the virus line were true
Simon.
Re:I don't agree with the law (Score:5, Interesting)
Not all countries work the same way as the US. European countries know about international diplomacy and don't take everything personally. Prime example: When bird flu was found in Delaware and the EU banned imports of US poultry due to safety concerns, the US "retaliated" and banned certain European imports. How on earth you can retaliate over a safety matter is beyond me. Is Europe supposed to import the infected chicken so they don't upset the US?
This isn't a dig at Americans or the US, but rather the seemingly childish attitude the US has towards international relations. It seems the US is only prepared to use its "big boy voice" when it wants something, and as soon as it has it, it's back to "little boy voice" complete with huffs and pouting. Go figure.
Re:I don't agree with the law (Score:4, Insightful)
See, the EU is walking a fine line between being "The United States of Europe" and being distinct nations. When it's desirable to be many nations, like at the UN, they don't want to give up their individual seats, but they also don't want the USA sending enough people to fill 50 seats either. However, when its desirable to only be counted once, they insist on doing so as well.
The EU's a rather new entity on the world stage and therefore nobody's sure exactly what to do with it yet. The EU is of course looking for advantages wherever possible...
Re:I don't agree with the law (Score:3, Interesting)
And when the USA bans all imports of Canadian beef due to one single case of Mad Cow on the Canadian prairies, this is different how?
Come on guys... (Score:5, Funny)
I want compensation from sales of Microsoft Windows just in case it is used for spreading viruses.
A: Apparantly not.
Re:Come on guys... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Come on guys... (Score:3, Insightful)
Now I'm not a big Microsoft fan, nor do I find it amusing that every other day I get another email from someone carrying the Netsky virus. But it's an awful precedent to set to put the financial burden on the people who build an operating system to protect against every known virus. The reason Microsoft's OS is hit more than any othe
Re:Come on guys... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Come on guys... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Come on guys... (Score:3, Insightful)
This is why you hire lawyers. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:This is why you hire lawyers. (Score:5, Insightful)
Apple gives you the web site where you can go and buy the music and its copyright. If you choose to steal the music it's you who are a criminal and not everybody else who uses the devices with legitmate reasons.
The law in France is dumb. Everyone pays for the ones that steal. It is a perfect example on how socialism is trying to fix society as a whole instead of the individuals who are detrimental to it.
GO APPLE! I hope they win the battle and don't have to pay.
Who's debt is it anyway? (Score:5, Insightful)
Afterall, if the tax is due based on the sale price, any discounts would lower that price.
Re:Who's debt is it anyway? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Who's debt is it anyway? (Score:3, Informative)
Doesn't apply in France since, as in much of the EU, prices are fixed by the govt at MSRP in the name of "price parity". True advertised sales are allowed twice per year (3 weeks in each august and feb) and things are occasionally marked down but it's truly rare.
What if? (Score:5, Funny)
They haven't actually SUED. (Score:4, Informative)
Re:They haven't actually SUED. (Score:4, Funny)
What Apple should do: (Score:4, Insightful)
That will show them!
Seriously, Apple has made an effort to prevent piracy and that should be taken into consideration by Sacem.
Re:What Apple should do: (Score:5, Informative)
What iPod DRM? What iTunes music store downloads?
Since when has Apple been offering music downloads outside the US? I'm still getting a warning about that you need an US billing address.
How much music have I bought?? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:How much music have I bought?? (Score:5, Insightful)
As much as will fit onto said device.
You can copy as much as you want (Score:5, Informative)
Your friend buys a DVD, CD, book ? Copy it and keep it for yourself - it's legal.
Rent a movie, copy it, bring it back and watch the copy as much as you want - legal.
Buy a CD, copy it, sell it - legal.
Go to your media-hungry friend who owns thousands of DVDs, CDs, books and copy them - legal.
double edged sword (Score:3, Interesting)
Sacem is playing the "starving artist" card, but they did it poorly. They said they wanted artists' rights protected, but if they really meant this, they should go after actual copyright infringers. They really just want money, which doesn't have much to do with rights.
Humm, slightly inaccurate here too. (Score:5, Interesting)
Even that sounds like a reach. Their system is like that used in other nations where there is a fee on media that goes to artists no matter if their work is illegally copied or not.
The question that the article does not answer is if all/any HDD manufacturers pay the fee already. Guess what? If the fee was already paid by the manufacturer then Appled paid the fee already when they bought the drives. Not saying that is the case, but it is something to think about. Also, if no HDD manufacturer pays this fee then the threat is just as stupid as it sounds on the surface.
Re:Humm, slightly inaccurate here too. (Score:5, Insightful)
This ranks right up there as one of the most assinine laws around, not just france's implementation, but every other country that has such a law.
Re:Humm, slightly inaccurate here too. (Score:5, Informative)
In Canada, the money is theoretically doled out in proportion to album sales. However, if you read this [ccfda.ca] you'll notice that:
My understanding is you also have to be the copyright holder to get the money, which is not many musicians. In other words, both consumers and musicians are being fleeced by this inane law, and the only people making money are record companies and Celine Dion.
This is sadly just another example of influence peddling and corruption with our current government.
Re:Humm, slightly inaccurate here too. (Score:3, Informative)
"My understanding is you also have to be the copyright holder to get the money, which is not many musicians."
First, let's clarify that there's a distinct difference between the copyright on a recording (which is typically held by the record company and/or the engineer) and the copyright on the music and lyrics, which is held by the lyricist and composer.
That would indeed suck if the Canadian tariff goes only to holders of the copyright on the recording. Here in the United States -- although many Slas
Re:Humm, slightly inaccurate here too. (Score:3, Interesting)
I checked, and here [neil.eton.ca] are the details for Canada. It appears that you are partially correct - the authors should get most of the money, with a bit going to the performer and the record company.
It still doesn't change the fact that because it is based on sales and airplay that the money is going to be given to a few people and some record companies. It is worth noting that even non-Canadian authors are getting paid by this system - at least what small amount of the money is actually being paid out.
Now excu
Who pays ... (Score:4, Interesting)
"Piracy fee" or "Fair use fee"?? (Score:5, Interesting)
The distinction is important. I resent the thought of paying levies on CD-Rs used to make backups of albums i bought fair and square. OTOH, if I were allowed to swap and burn music all I wanted I'd happily pay up.
Of course the politicians aren't interested in this distinction at all - to them it's more a matter of stopping the artists from whining. Squeaky wheel gets the grease, that's how politics work.
For your information (Score:5, Informative)
The tax mentioned exists, but wasn't created without an outcry from pretty much everybody in France, which of course didn't prevent the tax from being created. (Lobbies, lobbies everywhere.)
Like many people I highly doubt that any of the money collected this way goes into the pockets of "musicians". It definitely goes into some pockets, though.
I didn't know that the tax applied to hard disk drives, this was the point of hottest debate; I thought the government pulled back on that one.
Flaimbait Headline (Score:3, Insightful)
So how can I moderate an article's headline as "-1 Flamebait" then ?
Pull it off the shelves (Score:5, Insightful)
Atlas Shrugged (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Atlas Shrugged (Score:4, Insightful)
And just like in the book, they're "winning". As an example, there's a huge public service campaign now trying to "guilt" landlords into building ADA like features into appartments. The ads feature things like "she's 90 years old and lives on the fifth floor without an elevator". I say they're "winning" because just like in AS, it's their own high minded policies which cause this. French appartments are rent controlled, once you sign the contract your rent can only go up by a minimally, govt approved amount (I think it's 2.5%). Further, people can't be evicted except under extreme circumstances and the elderly and infirm are almost completely exempted from those. In short, there's a motivation NOT to build elevators since you can only try and encourage the old to leave and bring in new tenants at market rates.
You're right though, France is a looters paradise. Want to see Ayn Rand's prediction come true, keep watching France as the baby boom generation retires and the well runs dry.
What about Apple computers? (Score:3, Interesting)
Not piracy (Score:5, Informative)
I think it started with blank VHS tapes back in the 80s. More recently, CD-Rs and the likes, and even more recently, hard drives in general.
While it was questionable to tax hard drives in general, since many of them are not used to store media, it is hard to make a case for the iPod's hard drive to be exempt.
I personaly kind of like this system, which is by itself a better, more modern way of artist compensation than copyright is. Of course in France the two systems coexist, so you get the worse of both worlds.
The French are dumb. (Score:3, Interesting)
What bullshit.
We also have this levy in Sweden (Score:5, Informative)
- Activities of COPYSWEDE [copyswede.se]
(scroll down the page for information about the blank tape levies)
- Blank Tape Levy [copyswede.se] (PDF document with more detail)
Here's a quote summarizing it:
I personally find these levies very unfair as they're added to all recordable media and you're paying for the music and movie industry even when purchasing CD-R's to archive school work.
I also wonder how they decided what the fees should be. Wouldn't surprise me if they're much much higher (adds about 30% to the CD-R costs right now) than they should be, as people would probably not purchase two identical CD's very often if they were impossible to copy. Hence, in all these cases, they aren't losing money if these customers are copying today for convenience of playing a CD in the car stereo, etc. Usually, media companies and organizations like these totally ignore this important fact.
Taxes and Royalties (Score:4, Insightful)
sure there should be a reasonable tax, and some credit given to 'producers' but we are way beyond what should be considered reasonable.
Problem is most people dont notice until tax time, or when they get hit with a law suit..
Paris iPod Party (Score:3, Interesting)
Sure, the situations are a bit different, but it's still an unreasonable tax. I remember(atleast i think i remember this happening) a rise in stamp prices back in the 1980's here in the U.S. triggered some protesters to staple tea bags to mailed envelopes, as a reminder to the Boston Tea Party.
Passive resistance? (Score:3, Interesting)
If nobody wants to bring it to court (on the grounds that it's stupid and might get shot down), Apple wins. If it goes to court and loses, Apple wins. I'm just wondering how an idiotic law pandering to a profiteering corporation can in any way survive the scrutiny of an intelligent judge.
Apple Should Invade (Score:4, Funny)
=)
E.
An Opportunity (Score:3, Interesting)
Screw that.
Mandatory jail time for all black males!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
But all joking asside, there is some logic to the parallel I am attempting to draw.
If, because of the liklihood that someone will buy blank media and use it for purposes which result in copyright infringment, the artists and organizations 'harmed' should be repaid proportionally to the number or amount of potentially infringing media purchased.
That said, there is a fairly high liklihood that young black males will commit a felony before he is 25. If our conviction rate is any indicator (some 15% of all black males are inelligible to vote due to prior felony convictions) then potentially greater than 30% of all black males will be guilty of a violent crime before he is 25 years of age. If we apply the same logic, we should probably put all black males in prison from the age of 18 to about 21. This will protect the public from the violent crimes that they may potentially commit saving lives and property and will also serve as punishment in advance for anything they may do for which they are never caught.
Please understand that I am being completely ridiculous and I in no way believe the bullcrap I just wrote above. My attempt at writing this garbage is an attempt to draw a parallel at how ridiculous it is to penalize all consumers of recordable media. Just because it doesn't happen in the U.S. is not a reason the people of the U.S. shouldn't be concerned. (We should protect the rights of all if we expect our rights to remain intact.)
I'd like to see a world-wide abolishment of these proactive punitive measures.
Turnabout is fairplay (Score:4, Interesting)
Those f'in starving (and I'll guess crappy) musicians will have a harder time paying for their supplies than us computer geeks will paying for our blank media. Before long they'll be begging for the government to rescind all the blank media taxes.
Paper (Score:4, Interesting)
If it makes sense for other blank media, it certainly makes sense for blank paper. As for the relative value, look at what we devote educational resources to: 'literacy' and 'numeracy' - activities largely on paper - are viewed as crucial, whereas there is no requirement at all to be able to write pop music to graduate high school. So we should have special taxes on blank media which might be used for pop songs, but none on blank media which might be used for depriving investigative journalists and great short-story writers of income? Are pop musicians more deserving of special income from special taxes than writers? Why?
Even the US does this (Score:5, Informative)
The fact is that over 25 countries have instituted such a levy in some form or other. We here in Canada have the "Blank Media Levy" on CDs, tapes, and "digital storage in portable digital music recorders" which includes hard drives built in at the time of manufacture as well as Flash and/or RAM. The people who administer this levy (Canadian Private Copying Consortium or CPCC) have intimated that they will go after other hard drives in the future (the next round starts some time this month for implementation beginning of 2005)
The point is that the US people who lobby for this have not been as aggressive so today you don't have the levy on anything but the cassettes AFAIK; but you certainly could.
To those who think they should get some sort of compensation for their copied software, the Canadian Copyright Act actually leaves it open to potential groups to apply for and get status to do exactly that but it seems that nobody but the music publishers seem to be able to get together and actually do it (thank our lucky stars!)
As one of the people who directly opposed [pacdat.net] the CPCC in their recent initial request to apply a levy of $21 per Gigabyte for the storage in things like the iPOD, I can tell you that you can make a difference if you try. The actual levy approved by the Copyright Board was from $2 to a maximum of $25 per unit depending on how much storage it has in it when manufactured - and no levy on additional storage modules purchased after the fact. This and a hold at previous levels for CDs and tapes was actually quite a victory. I expect the fight over levies on regular PC hard drives will be every bit as hard when it comes.
Let this be a lesson to you - and let's see if you can apply it regarding the DMCA and other repressive legislation that your wonderful government (and the business lobby that pays it) are foisting on the world (see what is happening in Austrailia for example)
The law does not concern all HDs (Score:3, Interesting)
Finally found the text (in french) Here [legifrance.gouv.fr]
It does say that the hard-drives integrated into TV, VCR or video decoders and hard-drives integrated into mp3 players (like the iPod) are eligible to the tax.
The law does not apply to hard-drives sold for use in computers.
So this law is not that stupid, if you think that the general law that pay back artists for the right of users to make private copies is a good thing.
BTW, another law (here [legifrance.gouv.fr]) says that floppy-disk (3'5 inches only) are eligible for this tax. And this law is probably a lot more stupid.
NB : The site http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr [legifrance.gouv.fr] messes badly with cookies so the links above may not work at first.
Virus writers... (Score:3, Funny)
...don't get royalties on copies made, you insensitive clod!
License to copy (Score:5, Insightful)
It's a good thing that computers can write music to data CD's with no levy to pay.
Re:They're up to it again (Score:4, Funny)
Which reminds me of that episode of Futurama, where the professors says he invented a translator for an incomprehensible dead language, says 'Hello' to it and hears, 'Bonjour.'
Re:They're up to it again (Score:3, Funny)
And when combining france with the voice of Barry White, I could get laid by just telling what hardware is in my comp.
Re:They're up to it again (Score:3, Funny)
You are talking about france, right?
Re:They're up to it again (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Everyone's missing the obvious (Score:5, Insightful)
It'd go like this (moreso in my wonderful home state of Texas):
*doorbell rings*
"Hello there, I'm from the RIAA handing you a subpoena..."
*smiles*
(Click) Points 20 gague shotgun at the RIAA drone, followed by "You're trespassing. I'll give you a 10 second head-start to get off my porch.."
Now, if the subpoena were served by an actual deputy/process server, then they have leagal right to trespass to serve, without actually entering the dwelling. Joe Citizen (even a member of the RIAA) is not a member of law enforcement and not entitled to trespass to serve legal documents.
But, IANAL.
Re:Everyone's missing the obvious (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Everyone's missing the obvious (Score:3, Insightful)
Apart from the mods and posters here that can't see longer than their own nose, I can also inform you that I live in Orlando Florida and not in any far away overseas country
The point is that the world is much more than the US, but it fails to register with people here in the US. Everything is about the US and most people couldn't care less what happens anywhere else, which is why the news channels pumpe
Re:Here's a spoiler (Score:5, Funny)
then click on "I'm feeling Lucky"
Re:Does this validate piracy? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Why worry ... (Score:4, Insightful)