http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...lls-new-677796
Quote:
ROME – The head of Italy’s leading union of authors and publishers is calling for a new tax on smart phones, tablets and personal computers with the proceeds going toward royalties for the writers behind content those devices access.
Gino Paoli, the 79-year-old singer and songwriter who heads SIAE, the Italian Society of Writers and Publishers, is calling for a fee of around $7.10 (€5.20) added to the price of each new smart phone sold in Italy, and around $8.20 (€6.00) added to the cost of each new computer.
The money, he said, would help support the writers behind new works -- whether films, television programs, music, books, or plays -- in Italy.
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According to the Italian media, the SIAE proposal has support in parliament and could become law this year.
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http://www.billboard.com/biz/article...hone-computers
Quote:
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Paoli said the fee should not be looked at as a tax but rather as a fee that should be paid, not by the consumer who buys the product but by the producer of the product that is made more attractive because of the content available on it.
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It's good that this "fee" will be paid by the producer of smartphone/tablets/computers and not the consumers. At least according to the man behind this proposal who (honestly?) believe this is the case.
In reality, the producers will just pass this "tax" to the consumers in the form of higher prices.