What if you are required to pay a tax to the government for a reason as trivial as owning a tablet PC? Well, that’s exactly what the legislators at France are considering doing and will include all tablets with an internal memory greater than 40 GB. Strangely, Windows has been exempted from the new proposed tax regime – Private Copy tax – which government sources claim is due to the fact that the Windows is a full fledged operating system unlike the Google’s Android or the Apple’s iOS which are basically mobile operating system that have been adapted for tablet application. The end result, tablet PC prices may see a price hike by about €12 apiece.
The new ruling though should not come as a surprise for there already exists such taxes – the Copie Privée levy – on all blank digital storage mediums such as CDs, DVDs and Blu ray disks on the ground that these may find application in the illegal spread of copyrighted materials.
Domestic PMP maker that has also diversified into tablet manufacturing – Archos – is obviously not impressed with the new change of events which it says will only help US and Japan based companies. This while it has paid a whooping $3.9m in private copying taxes in the year 2009 alone.
via slashgear
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.
