Quote:
Originally Posted by Papa_Complex
Yes, it is, but let me run something by you here. What if you were a photographer, who used recordable media to send images to your clients, but were forced to pay a 'levy' to the recording and movie industries on every blank CD/DVD that you purchased?
You see that's the position, that we're in, here in Canada. My work gets ripped off, just like theirs does. I have no recourse other than petitioning the thieves for redress, or suing them. I don't get any of that money, that's pinched from me when I buy blanks. I don't get to 'opt out' of paying it, for my legitimate use of blank recording media.
Here, in Canada, none of the illegal downloading cases have been successful, since the day that the industry managed to have that levy passed into law. The reasoning is that they asked for a way that they could be paid, for those illegal downloads, and the GOT IT. So of course, now, they want changes in the law so that they get two bites at the apple. All well and good, but what about protection for MY intellectual property?
Your "What if you...?" argument falls on deaf ears, with me, because all that I see is unequal treatment under the law.
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I'm in recording, and audio.
I remember the DAT tax.
Remember DAT tape? Came out around the time of CD? It was supposed to be the replacement for cassette tapes, as the CD replaced vinyl (recordable CDs and computer DAWs would ultimately kill the need for the format entirely some years later).
The media was digital, like the CD, and was to offer recording at 48Khz, slightly better, but incompatible with the 44.1Khz rate of CDs in order to prevent copying.
Inexplicably, US regulatory bullshit fucked that up. It was feared the quality would be still too good. They added copy protection flags, but oddly, also allowed recording at 44.1 (?). It went back and forth, and finally, they just decided to tax the media, to offset the piracy (yeah, the logic is flawed, but play along).
End result, when all the dust settled?
DAT took so long to define legally, it tanked in the marketplace, and became a mastering format for professionals WHO MADE FUCKING CDs by "default" (it was more affordable than the professional "DASH" format).
So now, the people who would supposedly be getting ripped off (like, say; ME), would theoretically get just compensation from those supposedly stealing (say; ME) from the taxes on the tapes they purchased.
Oddly, I never saw any of that money...
Hmmm.
Papa, I feel your pain...this is a legacy tax from this very fucking debacle I speak of. Someone's keeping the money, and it's not the professionals that this legislation pretends to protect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMh6O7HuI08