alt Hacker NewsFrench digital tax may kill VideoLan non-profit
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Wait, why is VideoLan hit by this? Do they stream content themselves?
They will tax everyone for everything before they even contemplate controlling their spending.
Paying 0.055 EUR per GB of traffic sent to French residents makes video streaming fundamentally unprofitable.
Here's a link to the amendment: https://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/dyn/17/amendements/3210A/...
I don't have an X account, so I can't see the conversation, but there don't appear to be any carveouts for non-profits or small businesses in the amendment, unless perhaps "any company offering an internet access service to households and businesses" has more criteria in context than a simple reading would suggest.
I wonder how distribution via torrent would be accounted for. Or if it would be worth it for larger players to adopt such a model, or just pay up or exit France.
That Laffer curve is going to hit France in the gonads.
Discussion:
French national assembly votes 0.055€/GB internet tax
France is desperate.
They have a deficit problem, they cannot print money and people really don't want to give up their pensions.
Unless the curb public spending they are heading to a hard crash (and will probably take a couple other economies for the ride).
Nitter link: https://twiiit.com/videolan/status/2116229135919919278
How can I see an English translation?
The stupidity of European politicians is that extreme, it cannot be explained away by assuming a lack of education. I was never a conspiracy theorist, but the discrepancy between "That's something an educated person should understand" and what they are actually doing is that large I cannot bridge it mentally.
This may be a defect of mine, it probably is, but I have no but.
I mean, the law is stupid, but as one of the commenters there says, there is a 2% revenue (profit?) cap, and I don't think that VideoLAN makes a lot of revenue.
My big fear about right wing politicians is corruption and authoritarian right assaults on women and minorities.
My big fear about left wing politicians is well intentioned stupidity.
This was expected. France is in a lot of debt trouble and it’s highly alarming development for Eurozone. Unlike the US, France cannot print more Euros to stay afloat and the ECB, who can, is institutionally hand-cuffed to not do so. Its chief just quit in a seemingly related situation but optically unrelated way.