** Description changed: Ubuntu's available ISO image downloads are all designed for CDs. While these can theoretically be burned to DVDs, many programs will not permit the operation or will fail at the operation. It is also a waste of storage space to burn the 700 MB disk image to a DVD. Instead, users are generally convinced to purchase and use consumer CD-Rs, by that practical reason and by the way that the web site and accompanying material tends to recommend using CDs. The trouble is not really our fault. Over 25 other countries have implemented copyright levies on recordable media [1]. In Canada, this is currently implemented as a 21¢ music copyright levy for CD-Rs, but not on DVD-Rs. The levy unfairly assumes that CDs are being used for music, and for that matter copyrighted music. Canadian Ubuntu users are forced - to pay this levy even when they wish to use the CD for free software; - ultimately, they must buy permission from the non-free powers that be to - install Ubuntu. That is a dangerous dependency. + to pay this levy even when they wish to use the CD for free software. + Ultimately, they must buy permission from the non-free powers that be to + install Ubuntu, since buying a CD is required to use Ubuntu. That is a + dangerous dependency. As an example of the weight of this sitation, 500 Ubuntu users in Canada would be paying the CPCC - and by extension elligible music authors, performers and makers - $105 for a single install CD. Assuming each one likes Ubuntu so much that they want to share it with their friends, or they decide to download the next version to a disk as well, they will have earned the CPCC $210. These performers did not earn the money they are being paid under this context. Buying a CD to burn a copy of Ubuntu should not equate to a win for the music industry or for this preposterous levy. That action should certainly not be associated with duplicating locked down content, since the content in the Ubuntu installer is entirely free to redistribute. Consider the thought that many Ubuntu users want to share the operating systems by burning copies for friends and acquaintances. The direct income generated for the CPCC is likely to exceed that of many free software developers. I think it is safe to call this a bug. Here are some possible solutions: * Have the government consider a refund on the levy for users of legitimate free software. This program would not be cost-effective for anyone, but would at least make things better in principle. * Advocate for the CPCC to distribute a portion of levy proceeds to groups like the Free Software Foundation. Consider that "equal rights" governments should not be arbitrary; distributing a levy strictly to the music industry for disks that can technically hold any kind of data is a very arbitrary action, unfair to stakes-holders in other industries. - * Avoid the issue by providing alternative downloads of Ubuntu from www.ubuntu.com. For example, there could be a DVD image for download. DVD-Rs do not have the 21¢ levy associated with them in Canada, and I believe the situation is similar in other countries where the film industry is less vocal. + * Avoid the issue by providing alternative downloads for Ubuntu from www.ubuntu.com. For example, there could be a DVD image available. DVD-Rs do not have the 21¢ levy associated with them in Canada, and I believe the situation is similar in other countries where the film industry is less vocal. Naturally, I have included the most straight-forward solution last. [1] http://neil.eton.ca/copylevy.shtml
-- CD ISO has a side-effect of users paying music copyright levies https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/241513 You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
