Re: [tdf-discuss] (Fwd) The French Gov. loves Microsoft
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 On 1/1/2011 12:52 PM, Zaphod Feeblejocks wrote: > Did you know that anything running Linux in France is not a > computer? The outworking of this is a skewed market in favour of > MS operating systems, and therefore in favour of MS applications. > This DOES affect LibO. [snip] > "As a result, the government needed a way to define what devices > qualify as computers, which led to the decision to deem a device a > computer only if it runs Microsoft Windows. This means that, as > far as the French government is concerned, a tablet running any > other operating system -- including Linux, Mac OS, or Android -- is > just a device used by pirates who need to be taxed." As an attorney, my suspicion is that this story has something misleading about it. What I actually suspect is that there may have been an exemption created for Windows machines because MS may already be paying some kind of licensing-related tax, and taxing Windows machines would be a double-tax. There are hundreds of examples of this in tax law throughout the world, usually related to tariffs of some sort (i.e., the domestic manufacturers of Product X have to pay a tax that foreign manufacturers don't, so a tax is created on Product X that specifically exempts the domestic manufacturers). - -- Steven Shelton -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: GnuPG v2.0.12 (MingW32) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/ iEYEARECAAYFAk0iDIQACgkQXUonIzCvpdNpVwCeO26EZ+5/joVMlBFeZx/roK18 9KkAnjUXOmpiO0cyXtWcj+DeYrJUK62F =QDAb -END PGP SIGNATURE- -- Unsubscribe instructions: E-mail to discuss+h...@documentfoundation.org Archive: http://listarchives.documentfoundation.org/www/discuss/ *** All posts to this list are publicly archived for eternity ***
Re: [tdf-discuss] (Fwd) The French Gov. loves Microsoft
On 3 Jan 2011 at 14:12, sophie wrote: > Hi Zaphod, > On 01/01/2011 20:52, Zaphod Feeblejocks wrote: > > Did you know that anything running Linux in France is not a computer? The > > outworking of > > this is a skewed market in favour of MS operating systems, and therefore in > > favour of MS > > applications. This DOES affect LibO. > > I would not be so affirmative concerning this news. The deputies (all of [snip] > http://www.lesechos.fr/entreprises-secteurs/tech-medias/actu/0201007324477.htm > http://www.frandroid.com/52983/copie-privee-les-tablettes-seront-maintenant-taxees-en-france/ Bonjour Sophie, Thank you for making this clear. If I have understood, some devices are not taxed because they run a version of an operating system intended for desktop PCs (Windows). I imagine there will be lots of discussion in France about this - and also here in UK! The French system of taxing portable media has been discussed as something we might do also and this 'tablet tax' might be attractive to some people. I guess if you want to buy an iPad in France, now is a good time to do it! Merci, zf -- Unsubscribe instructions: E-mail to discuss+h...@documentfoundation.org Archive: http://listarchives.documentfoundation.org/www/discuss/ *** All posts to this list are publicly archived for eternity ***
Re: [tdf-discuss] (Fwd) The French Gov. loves Microsoft
Hi Zaphod, On 01/01/2011 20:52, Zaphod Feeblejocks wrote: Did you know that anything running Linux in France is not a computer? The outworking of this is a skewed market in favour of MS operating systems, and therefore in favour of MS applications. This DOES affect LibO. I would not be so affirmative concerning this news. The deputies (all of them) at the National Assembly are using a Kubuntu system. The whole National Gendarmerie has migrated under Ubuntu. Currently there is more than 400 000 desktops under OOo in the French government. So even if it's not the first time that this government take some strange and contradictory decisions about open source, I would be cautious about the comprehension of this news. Currently the taxation that the Govt would like to put in place is related to the private copy and is depending on the size of the memory on the device. They wanted to apply this taxes to the devices running their own OS. This is why Windows is excluded which is quite different from what the journalist wrote. There is an appeal to the state council and a vote on the 12th of January. If you read French, there are articles here: http://www.lesechos.fr/entreprises-secteurs/tech-medias/actu/0201007324477.htm http://www.frandroid.com/52983/copie-privee-les-tablettes-seront-maintenant-taxees-en-france/ There are some strong and very political Linux associations in France, like April and Aful that are following this. Kind regards Sophie -- Unsubscribe instructions: E-mail to discuss+h...@documentfoundation.org Archive: http://listarchives.documentfoundation.org/www/discuss/ *** All posts to this list are publicly archived for eternity ***
Re: [tdf-discuss] (Fwd) The French Gov. loves Microsoft
Il 01/01/2011 18:52, Zaphod Feeblejocks ha scritto: > Did you know that anything running Linux in France is not a computer? The > outworking of > this is a skewed market in favour of MS operating systems, and therefore in > favour of MS > applications. This DOES affect LibO. > > > > From: http://tinyurl.com/33ynbv7 > > "Microsoft apparently has quite a following in the French government, which > has recently > decided to tax tablets...but only those that aren´t running a Windows > operating system. > > "It has been the case for some time now that France has taxed mp3 players in > an attempt to > compensate for piracy of media, but according to French magazine Numerama, > that > existing legislation does not extend to computers. > > "As a result, the government needed a way to define what devices qualify as > computers, > which led to the decision to deem a device a computer only if it runs > Microsoft Windows. > This means that, as far as the French government is concerned, a tablet > running any other > operating system -- including Linux, Mac OS, or Android -- is just a device > used by pirates > who need to be taxed." > incredible :-(( I hope Italy will not copy this as seem is cpiyng the hadopi three strike -- Unsubscribe instructions: E-mail to discuss+h...@documentfoundation.org Archive: http://listarchives.documentfoundation.org/www/discuss/ *** All posts to this list are publicly archived for eternity ***
[tdf-discuss] (Fwd) The French Gov. loves Microsoft
Did you know that anything running Linux in France is not a computer? The outworking of this is a skewed market in favour of MS operating systems, and therefore in favour of MS applications. This DOES affect LibO. From: http://tinyurl.com/33ynbv7 "Microsoft apparently has quite a following in the French government, which has recently decided to tax tablets...but only those that aren´t running a Windows operating system. "It has been the case for some time now that France has taxed mp3 players in an attempt to compensate for piracy of media, but according to French magazine Numerama, that existing legislation does not extend to computers. "As a result, the government needed a way to define what devices qualify as computers, which led to the decision to deem a device a computer only if it runs Microsoft Windows. This means that, as far as the French government is concerned, a tablet running any other operating system -- including Linux, Mac OS, or Android -- is just a device used by pirates who need to be taxed." -- Unsubscribe instructions: E-mail to discuss+h...@documentfoundation.org Archive: http://listarchives.documentfoundation.org/www/discuss/ *** All posts to this list are publicly archived for eternity ***
