We have this in Czechia, everyone is kinda expected to pirate even though distributing (seeding & hosting) copyrighted content is illegal.
The tariffs, collected on sale of media/copying devices, are roughly:
- HDDs/SSDs: $2 / unit + $1 / 250 GB
- USB drives, phones: $1 / 16 GB
- Portable audio/video players with built-in storage: 3 % of price
- Printers without scanners: ~3 % of price
- Copiers: ~6 % of price
- CD-R: $0.02
- CD-RW: $0.08
- DVD±R: $0.05
- DVD±RW/RAM, other optical RW media: $0.20
- DVD burner: IDK, likely several dollars
- Analog audio casette: $0.08/piece
- Analog video casette: $0.08 (or $0.06 if under 180 min)
Yeah, the fees are often 10 % or more of the price of an HDD. Moreover, the system does not alleviate charges for the crime of unauthorized distribution, and the fees are collected by a private agency (OSA) that keeps 30 % for “enforcement”, 30 % goes to artists and the rest goes to book publishers, music labels and movie studios. The agency also collects fees for broadcasting and playing music (including live performances).
Piracy is rampant, mostly via the site uloz.to. Every kid can use the site (advanced users can bypass rate limits or “stream” by playing a file that’s being downloaded) but I would prefer a decentralized solution. A popular Czech torrent tracker has just been shut down, anyone know any alternatives on the clear or dark net?
bUt i LiVe iN a BaD nEiGhBoRhOoD!