Computer and printer prices to rise in EU because you can print copywritten stuff

This is a stretch but what if they are getting positioned for the next generation 3d printers and all of the knock-off stuff people may start producing?

People have been printing things ever since the presses were invented and this idea just pops up now, especiallly when a lot of people are trying to cut down on printing costs since ink/toner and paper seem to be quite higher now and the public is getting comfortable reading on their pfd viewer of choice.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Weeeelll, I had heard once that someone had actually considered that whistling, humming or singing a copyrighted tune was an act that technically you should pay ASCAP for. There was some talk, probably sarcastic, that involved having your cell phone listen to you and identify any non-sanctioned performance of a copyrighted work.

Thank goodness we have things like PRISM and ECHELON to help our great country identify illegal performance artists such as yourself by using their illicit music cell phone monitoring system, and tax them accordingly.

It's mind boggling to comprehend that a levy (tax) could be forced on any Co. to basically compensate for "potential" losses to a 3rd party... If these 3rd parties have an issue with someone infringing copyright laws, well, spend your own damm money to deal with that party.

It's another brilliant scam...gotta give them that.......lol...and apparently it's possibly going to be obsolete soon anyways. I don't begrudge someone getting paid for their work, but let's face it, to go after the average person for petty coping, PTA Mom uses disney image on bake sale flyer, or someone like me who downloads old songs,,,lol,,,,chances are I already bought that album, cassette or CD anyways, I just like them all together.

I know music is a separate matter, but similar idea. If whomever holds these copyrights wants to go after individuals, go for it on their dime and to their embarrassment and alienation of their client base potentially. Live by the sword, die by the sword......I would have to know on a case by case basis if the internet coping hurt them more then helped them........and because that's an impossible undertaking I guess the solution that seems just dandy is to charge everyone ........and this seems to be a powerful lobby to take on Microsoft, HP, Apple...etc.....unless they get thier cut too....

Originally posted by neo96

Originally posted by bigfatfurrytexan
reply to post by neo96

 

Printers are primarily for business and education. I print daily at work. The law requires such records.

At home? .pdf all the way.

Then it's time for the law to change to pdf all the way needs to catch up with the times.

I totally agree. I maintain, for the most part, a dual set of records of most things. However you have to remember that in accounting paper is the only thing that is real. Transactions are typically done by check. Credit has additional fees, so we never use cards. I ordered a debit card for our account (locked in my safe with the cash) but only use it to pay the CC processing company (who will only accept CC payments, oddly enough). So I have several huge file cabinets loaded down with paper. Otherwise we would have to spend money on a file clerk that would just sit and scan documents all day long. Who the hell wants that job? And what kind of accuracy will I get? My filing system is currently close to 100% accurate. Would I want to trust my records to a file clerk when the risk is possible prison time?

To make what I do paperless would likely require the cessation of using alternate instruments of debit like checks, and would require us to use credit only. In a cashless society this would be simple. But i am sure not willing to support THAT.

read it.

i.imgur.com...

I find it funny how things that would have jokingly been mentioned
in the past as, i bet they do this next, are now actually occurring,
people just cant seem to grasp the level of sheer greed being
displayed here, i wish i could copyright my work and benefit every
time anyone on this planet does, i would be filthy rich at this
point if it were like that, heck we all would.

This really reminds me of the VCR back when they were first
introduced, what would be the MPAA today, might have been
the same back then, don't honestly remember, but anyway
when the VCR became common they threw an ever loving
fit and tried to get laws passed to ban it because it allowed
people to view tv on their own time and even GASP! fast
forward through commercials, anywho they weren't successful
in that case but they never did give up.

The irony i see behind all of this is that in the end they will
only be hurting their self, they can scream and gnash their
teeth all they like but the consumer has already spoken, they
price things far too high and far too many middle men want
to be paid for nothing at all, times are a changing and those
who lack actual skills of doing anything other than being
a middle man will fall by the wayside.....

I find it funny that many see that unskilled labor is only worth
a paltry sum but allot of the music and television/movie middle
men are the very definition of unskilled, not only that but they
desire HUGE sums of money to sit and make phone calls all
day, or sit in meetings..... the only way they actually seem to
be able to make themselves relevant is by forcing people via
laws to make them relevant, all the while angering the very
people they want to sell to, yeah that wont blow in their faces
at all, the RIAA never learned that particular lesson LOL

This can't work, who would get the levy, how would it be distributed? and if they did charge a levy then you have paid the copyright fee so feel free to print off as many news papers magazines and books as you want and give them away or better sell them at a fraction of the cost to the real thing. For every action etc etc..........

Originally posted by jude11

Originally posted by Bedlam
So, if I'm already paying for the assumption that I'm doing it, does that now make it totally legal for me to print any copyrighted document I want? After all, I've already paid the tax.

Sounds like you have the right to do so seeing as you have paid the licensing fee.

Peace

Which in essence would make the copyright null and void. For all intents and purposes, it's now all public domain. People copyright their works in order for individuals to have to pay them for reproducing their work. Taxes, for printers no less, change the whole concept of that because now, instead of paying the copyright holder, you're paying the taxman. They think they're helping copyright holder, but instead, really, they're screwing them over. You think that tax money is going to go to copyright holders under the title of "Assumption Royalties"? Of course not. There's no such thing. They're taxing this in order to get a loan for something. They couldn't care less about copyrights. They don't have enough money in their coffers to do whatever it is they want to do, so they'll levy a tax on something to raise funds.

The answer? Don't buy new printers. Upgrade the one you have when need be

www.pcworld.com...

There's a video out there somewhere in internet land, made by a Russian, that is a VERY good tutorial on how to do this, but I can't find it.

How are libraries even legal any more? Why haven't these companies gone after getting libraries closed since they're letting us view the same material for basically free?

This is ridiculous.

So, presumably, if you buy one of these printers that's been taxed, you should be able to legally print out anything you choose, because you've already paid for the right to do so, right?

Originally posted by lacrimaererum
read it.

i.imgur.com...

edit on 29-6-2013 by lacrimaererum because: (no reason given)

Quote it first...

Peace

Originally posted by iwilliam
This is ridiculous.

So, presumably, if you buy one of these printers that's been taxed, you should be able to legally print out anything you choose, because you've already paid for the right to do so, right?

That's it.
I'm buying a laser printer and making hard copies of all my kindle titles.
Damn thing won't work after the EMP's put us out of business anyhow.

By the way,
The latest from the grapevine is that FEMA has been mobilized and has to be "combat ready" by the end of July. Also they (fema) are expecting an "EVENT" on 4th of July week. Possibly an EMP over the US.
So, start printing out your zombie survival handbooks before the power goes out.

So are they going to pay the money they collect to every copyright holder in the EU, or do they make the payments globally?

In Canada, and maybe elsewhere, we pay an extra levy on blank media that is supposed to cover the possibility of that media being used to reproduce copyrighted materials. Of course, this doesn't prevent the movie/music industry from attempting to sue people anyway.

So, we're paying an extra fee for nothing. It provides no protection against prosecution. Just another hidden tax on the consumer.

The tech world is full of patent trolls and unscrupulous (and criminal) types looking for a quick buck!

Anyone see this from earlier this year:

arstechnica.com...

When Steven Vicinanza got a letter in the mail earlier this year informing him that he needed to pay $1,000 per employee for a license to some “distributed computer architecture” patents, he didn’t quite believe it at first. The letter seemed to be saying anyone using a modern office scanner to scan documents to e-mail would have to pay—which is to say, just about any business, period.

If he'd paid up, the IT services provider that Vicinanza founded, BlueWave Computing, would have owed $130,000.

The letters, he soon found out, were indeed real and quite serious—he wasn't the only person getting them. BlueWave works mostly with small and mid-sized businesses in the Atlanta area, and before long, several of his own customers were contacting him about letters they had received from the same mysterious entity: "Project Paperless LLC."

I have since seen other articles about similar legal scammers. Lawyers already had a bad name after all the frivolous lawsuits they already file, but this opened up a whole new arena for money making scams.

It reminds me of the PRS (Performing Rights Society) in the UK. They charge a licence fee for listening to music. A place of work that plays the radio or music for its employees will have to pay the PRS annually. Irrespective of the fact that a fee has been paid to the music copyright holder by the broadcaster, the PRS demand to be paid again. The licence fee ranges from hundreds to tens of thousands of pounds pa. The PRS rakes in over £600,000,000 each year. How much of this is actually distributed back to the musicians is not known. One woman shop worker was targeted by PRS agents and told to cease and desist from singing while she was in the shop. Singing while shoppers could hear constituted a public performance and she was threatened with legal action if she didn't pay the PRS for a licence.

In 2008, PRS for Music began a concerted drive to make commercial premises pay for annual "performance" licences. In one case it told a 61-year-old mechanic that he would have to pay £150 to play his radio while he worked by himself. It also targeted a bakery that played a radio in a private room at the back of the shop, a woman who used a classical radio to calm her horses and community centres that allowed children to sing carols in public.

reply to post by torsion


That's insane.

Aren't Christmas carols in the public domain? The traditional ones anyway. Why would you have to pay to sing something that is in public domain?