Hi, Ben!
In gnu.misc.discuss Ben Pfaff<blp@cs.stanford.edu> wrote:
Alan Mackenzie<acm@muc.de> writes:
In gnu.misc.discuss Ben Pfaff<blp@cs.stanford.edu> wrote:
Alan Mackenzie<acm@muc.de> writes:
How about approach 2A: allow free copying of music and films, but
instead of paying artists out of taxes, they get paid by a levy on
high speed internet lines. A levy of, say $50 a year, or $100 a
year could provide handsome income to musicians and film-makers.
There are obviously difficult practical issues to sort out, but
given how badly copyright now misworks the levy would probably work
better.
I don't download music or films (legally or illegally). Why should I
pay such a fee?
To support your country's musicians and film makers.
I write free software in my spare time. Why not require ISP users to
pay a fee to support me, too? It wouldn't have to be a lot of money
per person, as long as everyone with an Internet connection was
required to pay me.
Hey, I write free software too. :-) I also don't download music or
films (apart from very occasionally non-copyright recordings).
Why shouldn't we get a bit from an Internet fee? Probably because the
system would be swiftly subverted by some firm like Oracle or Microsoft,
and we'd all end up paying them. Maybe. I do think your question is a
genuine one, not just a rhetorical one.