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?"
Slashdot is, as usual, behind the times (Score:5, Informative)
The responsible minister already said "no" [villamedia.nl] (Dutch language article and I'm too lazy to translate; learn Dutch you slackers :)).
Lobbyists (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Slashdot is, as usual, behind the times (Score:3, Informative)
Actually, I'm shocked. News on Slashdot that is less then 24 hrs old.
What went wrong?
Re:Slashdot is, as usual, behind the times (Score:4, Informative)
Come one, you gotta like a language in which "angstschreeuw" and "slechtstschrijvend" are perfectly valid words. It's like Perl (only less regular)! :)
angstscreeuw = fear scream (one word in Dutch) = 8 consonants in a row
slechtstscrijvend = worst written (one word in Dutch) = 9 consonants in a row
some more fun examples from the Dutch language:
koeieuier = Cow's udder = 7 vowels in a row
Jazzzinger = Jazz Singer = 3 z's in a row
Re:Lobbyists (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Slashdot is, as usual, behind the times (Score:1, Informative)
What are the eight consonants? And what are the 9? I'll give you that there are seven and eight, and that that's ugly enough, but check your counting.
angstschreeuw (including the H the parent forgot, 'screeuw' is not a word in Dutch, 'schreeuw' means scream) has 8 consonants (although 'ng' and 'ch' are pronounced as one)
slechtstschrijvend (including the H the parent forgot, 'scrijvend' is not a word in Dutch, 'schrijvend' means writing) has 9 consontant (although 'ch' is pronounced as one)
/. is wrong here, but whats really scary... (Score:2, Informative)
This isn't something from the Dutch government, but from a commision ("Commision Brinkman") who has given out an advice to the government. So in that aspect /. is not only behind the facts as others already wrote; they got it wrong too.
Second: The person behind this suggestion ("Eelco Brinkman") is one of the more powerful people in the Netherlands. If someone like that comes up with a brain dead idea like this then I call that a very scary development. The government rejected the idea, but not merely out of their own free will. Right now the Dutch governments popularity is near an all time low, and they're trying to do everything they can not to cause any up stirs. Until after the elections anyway.
Now our government has rejected the idea, and its my belief that the uproar caused by this insane plan was the major factor behind it. But what if the elections and the popularity weren't at rock bottom right now? They're clueless enough to push something like this through; especially when one of the results will be more income (taxes) for the government.
A very, very, scary thought IMO. And yes, I'm from Holland.
Re:Slashdot is, as usual, behind the times (Score:4, Informative)
According to new (1996) spelling this is supposed to be 'koeienuier'.
Re:Bad idea. (Score:4, Informative)
On the other hand I would REALLY like for someone to figure out a way for journalism to be a viable career...
Ok, blowing all my mods to address this one.
In the company I work for, we use trained journalists, and we use them for one purpose - and it's not writing internal newsletters. We use them because they know how to write. We have a constant need for people to write about stuff we sell and do in order to inform our potential customers. That text needs to be engaging, with correct syntax, punctuation and spelling. Do you know how rare it is in even a large technology company to find people who know how to construct a paragraph correctly, to say nothing of making it readable?
Mind you, they need to know a little about technology. Not a huge amount, but enough to ask sensible questions in an interview.
You might end up being called a "market analyst" rather than a "reporter", but work is definitely there, and it's the same sort of investigative reporting you were trained for. But the pay is probably better and interviews are easier to come by. It may not be the discovery of Watergate, but there's hope for you that isn't spelled Wendy's.
Wrong headline and summary (Score:3, Informative)
The Dutch government didn't state it wants any of this thing. The minister of education and culture asked a committee (with non parliament members!) how newspapers could be supported so they don't go bankrupt but at the same time the government isn't messing with how the papers run their company. He has 8 million euros for that. The committee calculated that that's not enough and advised to tax internet usage a bit so the total sum is larger.
That's it. It's an advice of a committee to a minister who then has to think about what to do with it. As the minister is a well known scientist and well aware of what internet etc. is, I don't think this advice will be made law.