Microsoft Suggests Internet Tax

[coldReactive]

http://www.itworld.com/software/98522/microsofts-charney-suggests-net-tax-clean-computers

*quadruple facepalm*

[Red-Machine]

That sucks.  Period.

That is all.

[Bella]

Microsoft is such a lolcow. A dangerous one, but lulzy none the less.

[Chocofreak13]

wow, this makes me want a mac. :\

[Alex S]

Microsoft needs to stop sending mixed messages.

I mean, seriously, a few months ago, we heard about Microsoft deciding to open-source the next version of the .NET framework (this topic) and then this comes out.

Is Steve Ballmer, or whoever is currently in charge of what Microsoft does, bipolar or something?

[IanDanKilmaster]

And of course he had to draw a metaphor to the current health care debate... ><;

I think I've already made my feelings on Ballmer clear in a number of other threads here... on topic, yes he's in charge.

I will say that this doesn't necessarily have to be a bad idea.  I do think it's a step in a dangerous direction, but it doesn't have to be a disaster.  Let's just hope this idea gets nixed... or at the very least, retooled into a safer idea.

[bombermania]

that's it. we need Bill back to the CEO chair.

[NejinOniwa]

indeed. at least he's somewhat mentally stable...

[Chocofreak13]

sides' he's "FATHER"~~~~

and well, yeah. this guy's schizo, srsly.

[Raffaele the Amigan]

Well...

That sounds ugly but in Italy we have more ugliest law.

Wanna know?

There is a very recent (jan 2010) law called "Equo Compenso" that can roughly translated as "fair compensation".

Well it is not even a law of the Italian State!!!

It is just a Decree from Ministry of Cultural Goods and Cultural Activities in Italy, mr. Sandro Bondi from the government of infamous notorius TV and Media Tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, prime minister of Italy.

It states that all storage media are potentially space for pirating, so it RAISE of a certain percent any media.

(Yes cell phones are considered media storage too)...

CD/DVD writers = price is raised of 5%

Analogic tapes and Digital support (tapes and CD/DVD) 22 cents/Euro price raise for any hour it could record...

Rewritable DVD 41 cents/any 4,7 GB.

Hard disks 2 cents euro any GB in Hdds upto 400 GB, 1 euro cent x GB for HDDs over 400GB.

The first and second year this ministry decree became effective the raise of Hdds price cannot exceed 12 euro plus the normal pricing of the Hard Disk, but starting from third year the decree is became valid, then this exceed price limit will be 20 euro.

Memories or Hard Disk embedded in devices (such as Memory Sticks embedded into Cell Phones and/or PVR and so like media) will be rised of a certain amount of money.

We start from a raise of 3,22 euro for memory sticks upto 1GB sold with Cell phones, and so on...

(For example hdds embedded in PVRs will be raised of 28,98 euro for Hard disks over 250 GB.)

Any kind of Memory Stick or card will be raised 0,05 euro/GB starting from 32 MB upto 5 GB, 0,03 euro/GB for sticks and cards over 5GB.

USB Sticks are considered apart and over 4 GB the ministry asks for 0,09 euro on any Giga of storage.

(Well there is also a little trick in the Ministry Decree.

Prices are considered to raise a certain amount of cents on any Gigabyte of storaege, but really the decree not states the amount of taxabile data per unit of memory. Then in the future it could even be counted on any megabyte)

MP3 and MP4 players are also considered apart and these devices really got a bang in their head....  5,15 euro more pricing for devices featuring quantities of memory from 1 to 5 GB, 6,44 euro priced more from devices with 5 GB upto 10 GB. 7,73 euro priced more for devices starting from 10 GB upto 15 GB of memory, 9,33 euro priced more starting from 15 upto 20 GB and price will be rised of 22,88 euro for players storing more than 20 GB.

Any PC sold in Italy or any BlueRay, or D-VHS unit, will pay 1,90 euro priced more for any unit if without CD/DVD/HD/HD-DVD writer, or featuring just players, else if the writer is present in the device then the unit will be rasied 2,40 euro more.

Any Cell Phone and/or Smartphone unit sold then will pay 0,90 cents euro but here again these is a trick in the Ministry Decree stating that the tax fee could raise depending on storage capability.

Who is the subject who will receive this enormous amount of extra money?

(It is a very big amount of money... imagine whole Italian market of media...

Just think the fact that Italy is a place in which there are almost 2 cell phones per inhabitant)

The subject who will receive all this money is the Society of Authors and Editors (SIAE), an obliged organization state office born in fascist era and never suppressed later.

It is the only subject in Italy which is authorized to collect copyright fees and distribuite it in percents to either authors of publishings/songs/movies and Editors/Music Majors/Cinema Majors.

Obvioulsy the Italian State keeps also its percent on these Copyright fees.

Well this Ministerial Decree states that any consumer of media devices in Italy is a pirate.

Well done Minister, well done.

Just to give you a practical idea since the tax was introduced last january the price of iPod shuffle 2 GB in Apple Stores raised from da 55 to 61 euro, IPod 4 GB raised from 75 to 81 euro. iPod nano 8 GB passed from 139 to 143 euro, iPod 16 GB from 169 to 174 euro. iPod touch 8 GB passed from 189 to 194 euro, The 32 GB model was rasied from 279 to 286 euro.

It is 10 euros more pricing if you wnt to buy 64 GB model.

http://punto-informatico.it/2839914/PI/News/realta-aumentata-dell-equo-compenso.aspx

Well people, I consider this a real  (and barely legal) State Robbery.

And also if Microsoft proposal will pass and a whole global tax will be adopted, then I think the time for a revolution on this planet are sure come.

[Red-Machine]

Okay, now that's just bullshit.  I'm all for punishing the pirates, but this just penalises the common man.

[NejinOniwa]

Berlusconi sure sounds like a cool guy, doing weird TV shows and doesnt afraid of anything.

[Raffaele the Amigan]

Berlusconi sure sounds like a cool guy, doing weird TV shows and doesnt afraid of anything.

Yeah. He is magic super (little) man of Communication.

In his last public speech in Rome last 20 of march, he promised his government will defeat Cancer in less than the three remaining years of his term of office.  o_o

http://palermo.blogsicilia.it/2010/03/silvio-berlusconi-will-defeat-cancer-in-3-years/

http://www.cancernewstoday.com/17381/youtube-berlusconi-promises-to-win-cancer/



And so you are worry for some Microsoft random silly ideas on about WANNABE FUTURE in which all countries in the world will taxing any computers to keep internet safe from any virus ?

Just think by whom we italians are governed just in this precise moment...

It is kinda scary period for italian democracy.  ;013  ;026  ;014

[NejinOniwa]

And your nation doesn't exactly have the cleanest record on democratics, either...Europe is being sad. ;_;

It's as if when Obama took office and finally gave the US a leader face you can look at without FUCKWADRAGE-ing, all the shit jumped over to this side of the atlantic instead... -__-

[Chocofreak13]

;____; italy was so cute in hetalia.....who knew it was so pricey and had such a stupid law? :[