Three cheers for the French

[Urban Ranger]

The French courts have ruled that using peer-to-peer networks (P2P), providing you are doing so for personal rather than commercial reasons, is legal. The decision comes just as the French Parliament meets to discuss whether internet users should pay a voluntary tax or surcharge of €5 a month to use P2P networks.

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Obviously the French are freedom haters

[Spiffor]

Let's wait on the appeal. Normally, the law makes a clear difference between legal and illegal personal copies (AFAIK, legal personal copies imply that you have paid for the data in the first place). The judge of the first court may have a very personal interpretation of the law. However, should the appeal result in the same decision, P2P will definitely become legal in France

[Donegeal]

Re: Three cheers for the French

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


link

Obviously the French are freedom haters

No, but they hate the musicians!!! How are they going to maintain their $1,000 a day cocaine habit? Please... will somone thing of the crack whores?!?!?!

I hate to say it, but this two things in row France has done right. First a French newspaper reprinted the Mohammed cartoons and now this....

France

[Spiffor]

Re: Re: Three cheers for the French

Originally posted by Donegeal
France

/me points and laughs

[monolith94]

Have you ever heard french rock groups? Of course they'd want to make music easier to get - the french need as much rock and roll as they can get!

[MrFun]

I say we let them have all the rocks they want without the music.

[C0ckney]

you must try really hard to be THAT unfunny.

[SpencerH]

[Sava]

P2P sux0rz

usenet

[Az]

you must try really hard to be THAT unfunny.

[q=Donegeal]France[/q]
Coming from an officer of the law...


Anyway: p2p

A reasonable internet fee for creators

[Adagio]

Originally posted by Az
A reasonable internet fee for creators

I would support this if the money actually went to them, but I have my doubts they'll ever see a dime

[Az]

Hey, it's actually a great opportunity. whole developement studios and musical artists may start publishing their stuff on p2p networks, with proceeds from their music being distributed on merit of download, and by destroying the middlemen, i.e. the publishers.

I don't have anything against the publishers - as long as they don't let forcefully try to create a market.

[Seeker]

The French solution is the best I have seen so far although I remain skeptical over who determines how much and who pays this tax. What if I don't use P2P? What if I downloaded a couple hundred favourite songs and then stopped years ago? Do I still have to pay a mysteriously determined tax forever?

And what about movies? Will there be another tax for that? And books/comics? What about illegally downloaded software via bittorrent?

All I'm saying is that there is a possibility for a taxation nightmare which may target the 'moral majority' or whatever unfairly.

[Az]

I think there should be a unified tax on all media, seeker.

And yes, the distribution of the revenue won't be perfect, and some people will be overtaxed, but since retail and publishing are sometimes a vast majority of the cost of media, it's still FAR more sensibvle.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Az
I don't have anything against the publishers...

You sure? Not even outfits such as InfogreedAtari and RIAA (which is a cartel of publishers as far as I can tell)?