El French government plans to levy additional taxes on mobile devices, both phones and tablets, in addition to computers, to finance the cultural industry of your country. It would be a new application of the digital canon to a type of device that is gradually becoming the most important reproducers of digital content and in many cases, the preferred place for its storage.
Now that recordable DVDs and CDs are being used by fewer people to store their data and digital content, the focus is on mobile devices and computers, the new quintessential players.
The call Lescure report arises from a request by François Hollande to the president of Canal + France, Pierre Lescure, to study how to return to the idea of cultural exception promoted in the 80s by which large companies that indirectly obtain profits from the sale or distribution of cultural property give something back to the creators. The report is the result of 9 months of work analyzing the issue.
In short, it is intended that the manufacturing and selling companies that obtain huge profits from the sale of these products and the content services associated with them, make a significant contribution to the creation of music, cinema, literature, etc., increasing the funds that the French state dedicates to its financing.
The Main indicated are Apple, Google and Amazon, how could it be otherwise. The French Minister of Culture, Auriele Filippetti has indicated that we are talking about a minimum tax, around 4%, that these giant companies would not notice too much but that it will make a difference for the cultural industry that includes: music, film, literature, photography and video game. This last aspect is fundamental and has a feedback aspect, with video games being one of the most demanded content on this type of device.
In return there will also be modifications in anti-piracy legislation, removing the assumptions that users could see their internet access cut off by order of a judge for committing an intellectual property crime.
Source: Reuters