New Irish Internet Tax? 242
MarkDennehy writes "The Broadcasting Bill 2009 (currently in the last stages of becoming the Broadcasting Act 2009 and then being commenced into law in Ireland) has thrown up a rather unpleasant little nugget for broadband users in Ireland. It now defines a television set as being an electronic apparatus able to receive TV signals or 'any software or assembly comprising such apparatus' which would mean that even if you haven't got a television set, even if you don't watch streaming content from RTE.ie (the state broadcaster's website), you'd still have to pay 160 euro a year for a television license for your iPhone, or netbook, or laptop or desktop if you have fixed or mobile broadband."
Learn to read your own Bills (Score:5, Informative)
"broadcasting service" means a service which comprises a compilation of programme material of any description and which is transmitted, relayed or distributed by means of an electronic communications network, directly or indirectly for simultaneous or near- 20 simultaneous reception by the general public, whether that material is actually received or not, and where the programmes are provided in a pre-scheduled and linear order, but does not include:
(a) a service provided for viewing in a non-linear manner where each viewer chooses a programme from a cata- 25 logue of programmes, or
(b) other audio and audiovisual services provided by way of the Internet;
Re:Ok I'll Bite... (Score:5, Informative)
You can buy gasoline for those applications where they are not used for the road. It is dyed (taxed gasoline is undyed, so they can do a quick tank check) and farmers buy it all the time for their tractors.
At least that's how it used to be.
Re:Ok I'll Bite... (Score:5, Informative)
Your TV would have to be a monitor with no ability to tune in to a signal before you could argue exemption for TV licenses, at least in the UK, and Ireland sounds like it has a similar system. Owning a TV and claiming it's not connected to an aerial/cable/satellite/etc is not sufficient. It has been this way for decades. So really, this is just the same: if you have an internet connection, you have the ability to tune in.
160 euros is considerably less than what I used to pay for basic cable in Canada. Having 10 times as many channels gave me close to zero times more content to watch. Speaking again for the UK, the BBC doesn't have to pander to advertisers and makes the viewing audience their primary customer. This raises the standard of TV across the board, and it's no wonder commercial broadcasters like Sky hate it as they have to spend more than they otherwise would.
Re:Ok I'll Bite... (Score:2, Informative)
This has long been the case in Switzerland (Score:4, Informative)
An internet-connected multimedia computer (pretty much anything nowadays) counts as a TV+radio set.
Which means that even if you do not have any other apparatus (no TV...), you have to pay quarterly fee of CHF 115.50 - about 300 Euros per year.
And yes, this is to sponsor contents and broadcasts from the Swiss television and radio stations.
Allows us to have less advertisement time than in the USA, and to have some "quality programs" that are not always maket-/audience-driven.
Not always a bad thing... like all taxes ... although one might disagree with how the money is used.
Re:Ok I'll Bite... (Score:4, Informative)
Nice trolling.
For the sake of the grandparent post, 400THz is approximately the frequency of red/IR light (It's close, but lower frequency than the Xnm=XTHz green light band). The number is a little off (2-4 orders of magnitude), putting the upper limit of the frequency band known as radio around 400MHz (FM), unless you include Microwave radiation as a radio wave subset (I've seen some that do), which ups it to closer to 40GHz.
Here's a site for quick ref:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_radiation/ [wikipedia.org]
And a pretty picture:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EM_spectrum.svg/ [wikipedia.org]
Never hurts to correct an error, but it can to stomp on someone who made it.
I recommend providing links to sources and avoiding grammer nazisms.
Also, we don't need additional proof that John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory is true.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/ [penny-arcade.com]
Already got that one (Score:2, Informative)
In Denmark : Multimedia taxation.
If you own one or more of the following you are to pay up :
1. 3G Phone
2. PC with TV card
3. TV
4. Internet connection >= 256 kb/s
A similar thing from Denmark (Score:4, Informative)
Hi all. I live in Denmark, and we have a similar thing.
Until "the Internet counted as a TV", the rules were:
If you have a TV, you have to pay $n DKK per year. That included 98% of the people.
After: If you have a TV or a 256 kilobit/s (or faster) internet connection, you have to pay $n DKK per year. This includes 99% of the people.
The license-paid station (dr.dk, "Denmark's Radio") streams some microsoft video format over mms://.
At 256 kb/s, it can't be particularly great quality; yet if they stream in greater quality, they essentially charging people who can't get a good viewing experience.
But---they're being quite fair about it. A fellow student of mine who owns no TV but has an internet connection had to pay, until he phoned them up and said "I don't have the necessary codec to play your videos, and I won't install it" (He's on Linux). They exempted him from paying, and even paid him back what he had paid so far (because he paid under a false pretext).
They are testing something which will reach Linux users as well (and presumably other OS users too). Then he'll have to pay.
Note that DR sometimes shows infomercials on their channels, encouraging illegal viewers to pay license fees. That is: they spend money on it.
If 99% of the people have to pay already, why not just charge everyone via the Plain Old Taxation system? The remaining 1% can go to a public library and view DR on the web, so they're getting something for their money too. That'll save the money spent on the "please pay up" campaigns.
And then of course there's an argument to be had about the pros and cons of Public Service and Public Access, but let's leave that for later...
Re:Ok I'll Bite... (Score:1, Informative)
but there are ads on RTE. Lots of them. And they only stream a tiny amount of their shows on their site. The only good thing they show is champions league football and its more fun to watch that in a pub.
Re:Ok I'll Bite... (Score:4, Informative)
RTE also hasn't got the same freedom from government pressure that the BBC has. If the current party in power says "jump" RTE says "How High".
This
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQsR09ER4Yk [youtube.com]
so offended poor old brian that RTE had to issue an apology, when it comes to things that matter does anyone think they'd be any more than lapdogs?
To give a small sample of the utter crap that RTE produces:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auld_Ones [wikipedia.org]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK2vrKXwM-8 [youtube.com]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dustin's_Daily_News [wikipedia.org]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41QjBFkXiT0 [youtube.com]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenroe [wikipedia.org]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=criYNyAL658 [youtube.com]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging_with_Hector [wikipedia.org]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnHKMdND5XM [youtube.com]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Dare_Ya [wikipedia.org]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9P483JGEqQ [youtube.com]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Name_of_the_Fada [wikipedia.org]
And the worst of them all:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killinaskully [wikipedia.org]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZOTBoUzGUM [youtube.com]
Re:Ok I'll Bite... (Score:1, Informative)
No, a radio does not count at present in Ireland, though we needed a licence for a radio until 1971. Until recently, there were also separate licences for colour and black-and-white televisions.
Only one licence is required per household (or business premises) regardless of the number of televisions. Of course, if you have more than one household (e.g., a holiday home) you need more than one licence.
The vast majority of households already have a licence, so this change will probably affect very few people. The licence costs Euro 160 per year (about US$210). If you don't have a licence and you have a TV, you get fined about Euro 650 and then still have to buy the licence.