France to tax the internet to pay for music
A new tax in France is aimed at ISPs. They want to tax isps to help pay for the CNM (Centre National de la Musique) which is an government organization that provides opportunities and funding for music and cultural events. Already in France there is a tax on tv, to pay for public access channels. Very similar to the tax in the United kingdom which pays for the BBC. This isp tax will also be similar to that, except towards publicly funded music. The Union des producteurs phonographiques francais independants (UPFI) praised the decision.
What's interesting is how Sarkozy has associated music to be sourced from the internet, and movies to be from tv. In a related comment he said:
Globalization is now, and the giants of the internet earn lot of money on the French market. Good for them, but they do not pay a penny in tax to France.
They bring up how the state funded the infrastructure necessary for the internet, and that the internet should give back to the state. But the internet is so much more than a music box. Why should someone who nowadays requires an internet connection to study in school, have to pay an increased ISP cost for music?
pcinpact.com writes (rough translation):
The President did The music industry's dreams. French ISPs have been accused by the music industry to have earned billions of euros on their backs. Now they must get their hands in their pockets to fund the Centre National de la Musique (CNM).
.