France considers helping creative industries by taxing internet advertising
In another audacious move, France is proposing the taxation of internet advertising revenues of Google and other major online players to support creative industries which are feeling the effects of the digital revolution. The proposal is part of a report handed to the culture minister earlier this week, according to the newspaper Liberation, which quoted one of its authors. [We got the news from Wired magazine's website.]
The levy, which would also apply to other operators such as MSN and Yahoo, would put an end to “enrichment without any limit or compensation,” newspaper Liberation quoted Guillaume Cerutti, one of the authors of the report.
It would apply even if the operator had its offices outside France, as long as the Internet users who click on ad banners or sponsored links are here, the paper said.
This is not the first time that France, and in particular its president Nicolas Sarkozy, has stepped up in defence of cultural industries. For instance, a program was launched to give a newspaper subscription to everyone under 18 to encourage reading and bolster the newspaper industry. And Sarkozy called for a publicly led alternative to Google's plans for a massive online library. And France's new internet piracy law aims to assist the music industry by disconnecting and fining repeat illegal downloaders.
posted by D. B. Scott at
10:03 am
1 Comments:
For all of Sarkozy's faults, he at least recognises that the cultural industries are indeed going through rough times. Google and the other digitzers are central to the problem and, up to now, have refused to become part of the solution. Just yesterday the rights and reprints desk at one of Canada's largest publishers contacted me asking permission to reprint in a book one of my magazine articles. They wanted it for nothing, basically. Why? Because as everything is being digitized by Google and freely distributed, they claim they will not make a profit on the publication and so I should not expect to be paid further for an existing piece. When asked what was in it for me, they said republication would help extend my brand.
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