Hello, The French Finance Bill could have been a milestone in the recognition that consumer rights are indeed restricted by the digital handcuffs referred to as DRM or, deceptively, “technical protection features”. Unfortunately, the Government decided otherwise, with some help from the socialist deputies.
Deputies of the Green party (Europe Écologie-Les Verts) had introduced an amendment to the Finance Bill, imposing a full VAT rate on all digitally-restricted books. In France at present, all books, whatever their medium, are subject to a reduced VAT rate. The deputies had proposed to draw a distinction between two types of books: those over which the buyer has full ownership, and those which only allow consumers limited rights. In this context, a consumer has "full ownership" over books which are released in an open format, without DRM, and which provide the user with the same rights as paper books (such as the possibility to lend, to read wherever and as many times as desired, etc.) Only this first, “full ownership” type of book would be treated as a true book, and would in turn be eligible for the reduced VAT rate. Read more on http://www.april.org/en/electronic-books-france-no-differential-vat-based-presence-or-absence-drm Fred. -- April - Promouvoir et défendre le logiciel libre http://www.april.org
