Dutch Gov. Wants To Tax Online Media To Fund Print 187
Godefricus writes "Outrage ensued among Dutch techie and media websites, after a government report advised that the dwindling print media industry should be financially supported by the online industry (Google translation; Dutch original here). The idea is to help the old media fund 'innovative initiatives.' The suggested implementation of the plan is by taxing a percentage of each ISP subscription, and give the money to the papers. The report, which was solicited by the Dutch parliament and written by a committee of its members, specifically states that 'news and the gathering of news stories is not free, and the public must be made aware of that.' The report is not conclusive, but from here it's just one step toward a legislative proposal. Both industries are largely privately owned in The Netherlands, and the current government is center-left wing. Who needs an RIAA if you can build one into your government? And hey, why invest in the future if you can invest in the past?"
Explosion in the irony factory... (Score:5, Funny)
The report, which was solicited by the Dutch parliament and written by a committee of its members, specifically states that 'news and the gathering of news stories is not free, and the public must be made aware of that.'
It's a shame those newspapers don't have any means of getting this kind of information out to the public.
Re:Slashdot is, as usual, behind the times (Score:5, Funny)
Could be worse.
The news papers will only report about this tomorrow.
Re:Slashdot is, as usual, behind the times (Score:5, Funny)
Come one, you gotta like a language in which "angstschreeuw" and "slechtstschrijvend" are perfectly valid words. It's like Perl (only less regular)! :)
Newspapers. Blogs. Forgetting something? (Score:5, Funny)
Yet again, the Dutch government entirely ignores the welfare of town criers. This is an insult to town criers everywhere! I demand that the dutch government fund the struggling town crier industry by taxing newspaper sales.
The news ain't free, you know.
Dutch government just propsed another law... (Score:3, Funny)
...this time all sales of CDs will go towards the 8-track tape industry and sales of DVDs and BDs will go to VHS and Laser Disc companies.
This is bullshit (Score:5, Funny)
Or, for our Dutch friends, a Google translation:
Dit is onzin!
And then back to English:
This is nonsense!
And, just for fun, to Filipino:
ito ay kalokohan!
And back to English:
This is poppycock!
I think I've made my point.
Re:Explosion in the irony factory... (Score:5, Funny)
Well that's kind of the point, nobody's reading them.
Re:Dutch Govt to tax cars to feed horses too? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:For fuck's sake! (Score:1, Funny)
... fucking ... fucking ... fucking ... fucking ... fucking ... Fuck ... fucking ...
Judging from your judicous use of the word 'fuck' in relation to the Dutch tax system, I assume you were a) annoyed to learn that Dutch prostitutes charge VAT too upon visiting the red light district in Amsterdam and b) were pissed of you couldn't deduct said visit as a business expense from your tax returns.
Re:Explosion in the irony factory... (Score:3, Funny)
Also, that "Whoosh" sound you heard was neither superman nor an airplane.
Dutch Gov. Wants To Tax Online Media To Fund Print (Score:2, Funny)
How about a tax on the word "fuck" . . . ? (Score:5, Funny)
I Water is taxed about 6 times if you count 'em all (at least the rate is 6% after drinking water, what a fucking great silver lining that is).
Well, fuck me over flying fucking backwards. The fucking Netherlands has fucking taxes on fucking water? I fucking thought that if the fucking country didn't have all those fucking brilliant fucking dikes, then the whole fucking country would be under fucking water, and they would be fucking totally fucking fucked over, with no fucking clue what to do with all the fucking water.
Except fucking tax it.
But what the fuck do I know?
And fuck, that fucking story about that fucking Dutch boy, who saved the fucking country, by sticking his fucking finger in the fucking dike to stop the fucking leak?
Well, the little fucking bastard was just fucking trying to finger fuck the fucking dike.
Please mention me in your prayers, before you go to sleep tonight . . . I don't want to go to work tomorrow, and start talking like my rant, above.
Re:For fuck's sake! (Score:1, Funny)
Being Dutch, I felt like chipping in these two bits:
Fuck the Dutch and their fucking tax attitudes, though.
- Tax attitude: everyone tries to deduct as much as they can.
- Fuck the Dutch: that's why we have the red light district [redlightdistrict.com]. Come fuck us as much as you want. You will have to pay for the privilege, though.
(disclaimer: i have no clue what's behind that link. It's probably NSFW though ;)
Re:Slashdot is, as usual, behind the times (Score:2, Funny)
Daily Show Special Report [nola.com]
Jason Jones: Tell me a joke.
New York Times manager: No, that's your job.
JJ: You wanna hear one from me? Okay. What's black and white and red all over?
NYT: A newspaper.
JJ: No, your balance sheet.
Re:For fuck's sake! (Score:3, Funny)
Fuck the Dutch and their fucking tax attitudes, though.
Nigel Powers, is that you?
On a related note... (Score:1, Funny)
Buggy whip manufacturers want their slice of the pie too!
Re:How about a tax on the word "fuck" . . . ? (Score:2, Funny)