[NewsPoster]

France's SACEM agency is asking Apple to pay 5 million euros, or about $6.5 million, for taxes still owed on 2011 iPad sales, reports say. The tax is one common across Europe, collecting money off sales of digital devices that can access copyrighted material. The money is then distributed to artists such as authors and actors.

SACEM says that while Apple charged the appropriate fee to French iPad buyers in 2011, it has yet to actually pay any of the money to the French government. Most of the money would have been made off sales of the iPad 2, which came to France on March 25th that year. The device was a breakout model, solving some of the issues of the first-generation iPad while reaching more countries more quickly.

Apple has come under fire for its tax policies in recent weeks, mainly in the US. There a Senate subcommittee recently brought Apple to task for sheltering cash overseas. The company defended its practices as falling within tax laws.

[jmelrose]

Apple smiled, pulled out its wallet, and asked if cash was OK....

[The Vicar]

Ah, a major difference between America and the rest of the world.

America has these big industry organizations, the RIAA and the MPAA, which claim to represent artists and are constantly suing anyone they can possibly find who may have done something wrong for vast sums which are unbelievably out of proportion to the crimes they claim, and then just keep the money so that it doesn't actually get to any of the artists whose work might be stolen anyway.

Everywhere else, the government says "oh, hey, those devices are probably going to be used to pirate some, let's collect fees to cover it from the manufacturer", the fees are collected AND DISTRIBUTED TO THE ARTISTS.

Oh, but hey, government intervention is evil, right? The Free Market never hurts anyone who doesn't deserve it.

[nowayoutofmymind]

And SACEM then sent all the money, that remained after withdrawing the cost for its operation, to the artist. The whole € 200k.

[drbenru]

@The Vicar Nope in other countries and Europe specially these taxes are "managed" by the equivalent of the RIAA and MPAA, in many cases these european equivalents are nothing more than the european arm of the same RIAA and MPAA. German buyers are the most screwed on this whole thing, they pay the highest rate of taxes for the "possibility" that the device "may be used" for the purposes of piracy.

[jdonahoe]

It sounds like the tax is a license to pirate....

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by The Vicar 

Ah, a major difference between America and the rest of the world.

America has these big industry organizations, the RIAA and the MPAA, which claim to represent artists and are constantly suing anyone they can possibly find who may have done something wrong for vast sums which are unbelievably out of proportion to the crimes they claim, and then just keep the money so that it doesn't actually get to any of the artists whose work might be stolen anyway.

SACEM is the equivalent of ASCAP/GEMA/BIEM/STEMRA, not of the RIAA.

OF COURSE they represent the authors/artists. Same as the ASCAP.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by drbenru 

@The Vicar Nope in other countries and Europe specially these taxes are "managed" by the equivalent of the RIAA and MPAA, in many cases these european equivalents are nothing more than the european arm of the same RIAA and MPAA. German buyers are the most screwed on this whole thing, they pay the highest rate of taxes for the "possibility" that the device "may be used" for the purposes of piracy.

GEMA is the equivalent of the ASCAP, not of the RIAA. The RIAA would be the Deutsche Phonoverband.