Fair compensation: January smartphones, tablets & C. could ... - The Republic

FROM JANUARY smartphones, tablets, computers, hard drives and other electronic devices could soon cost a few Euros more, by way of an amendment included in the Stability Law, in debate in the House and will almost certainly will return to the Senate. The amendment provides for increasing the “tax” SIAE burden on all devices with memory. Technically called “fair compensation” and is intended as a way to compensate copyright holders for any misuse that users can do with those devices (ie downloading music or movie piracy). The fair compensation should in fact SIAE and, according to initial estimates, “The increase will be now decided by 70 percent, then he will find SIAE € 210 million a year instead of the usual 80 million Euros.’m All stolen money ‘ electronics industry and hence the pockets of consumers, “says Guido Scorza, a lawyer expert in the subject. “It means that a 16 GB iPhone will cost about 4 euro more, as the component of fair compensation will, with this increase, from the current 90 cents to 5.20 euro. Tablet For it goes from 3.20 to 5.20 euro, for the computers to be 3.20 to 6 euro, “he adds.

increase – if the amendment at the end of the process of the law will remain as it is – is justified by the idea of ??bringing the ‘ fair compensation to the level of the European average, but calculated in a very singular: ie excluding those countries where this tax is not present (UK and Spain). In short, the average takes into account only the values ??in the countries where it is in force for fair compensation. The purpose is to promote cultural activities, as Francis said yesterday Ribaudo (PD), the first signatory of the amendment. In fact, “50 percent of the amounts collected through the adaptation of the parameters of fair compensation will be allocated by SIAE to support the activities contained in the Statute of the same society of authors and publishers. And in particular, will be used to provide scholarships, loans and other benefits in favor of the new talents in the fields of music, film, theater and literature, “he says. Once the law is passed Stability, will decree a decree of the Minister of goods and cultural activities and tourism to update the fees provided for each device.

A to discuss is the logic with which they take off money to promote the cultural innovation industry. “We must now insist that new additional imposts would only further penalize technological innovation,” says Cristiano Radaelli, Anitec president of the National Association of Computer Science. “If implemented, this request would become, in fact, at an additional cost that would be borne by consumers and households, creating a real risk of widening the digital divide Italian.”

But how did it come to this Amendment? A month ago President SIAE Gino Paoli had written to the Minister of Heritage and Cultural Activities to increase the Massimo Bray fair compensation. To this end, it proposed to enable a technical committee at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, with all the representatives of the category concerned. Not only with the Siae, therefore, but also with technological and consumer associations. The amendment, however, goes beyond even the same request of Paoli, introducing the increase immediately, without the need for technical meetings and especially without hearing the other bells.

For another, the amendment comes on the same days NRA resolution against piracy on the web: another measure, with an impact on the digital channels, promotes the copyright industry. The same Act also contains a measure of stability that begins to discuss because it is designed only for physical books, excluding the e-book. “To promote a wider dissemination of reading paper books is recognized a tax deduction of 19% of the expenditure incurred during the calendar year for the purchase of books bearing an ISBN, for a maximum amount of € 2000, of which € 1000 books for school and university and € 1,000 for all other publications, “it said in a statement Palazzo Chigi. From the point of view of innovation support, in short, the Stability Law 2014 has ups and downs: on the one hand provides tax incentives and a voucher grant for technology investments of SMEs on the other, measures likely to penalize the dissemination of technology among consumers.