France is considering a culture-content tax to raise money for the country’s creative industries including music, film, video games and photography. The levy would occur on smartphones, tablets and other devices used to access the Internet.
According to CBC News:
The proposal for the tax was made in a report submitted to the country’s president, Fran√ßois Hollande, Monday. Hollande had tasked Pierre Lescure, the former head of private television channel Canal Plus, to come up with suggestions on how to adapt France’s policy of promoting French culture to the digital age…
…The report suggests that the tax could be initially set at one per cent of the sale price and eventually be raised to three or four per cent. Lescure estimates a one-per-cent tax would raise 86 million euros (about $113 million) per year.
Lescure’s report offered 75 recommendations, including the culture tax. He also proposed abolishing both the government agency policing illegal downloading of copyrighted material and the law allowing the agency to sever the Internet connections involved in illegal file sharing.
You can read the full CBC report here.
