[pp.int.general] cultural flatrate: PP position?

[Reinier Bakels]

> Why should such a system be tax-based? If we add 6% to the price of the
> internet access with the reason, that this money is taken to pay right
> holders, then the money should be given to them.

My argument is that a flatrate system *by nature* is A KIND OF tax system. 
The essence is that there is a payment obligation regardless whether there 
is a benefit. Another similarity with taxes is that the spending 
(redistribution) of the money requires policy decisions: it is not just a 
matter of "accounting".

In my perception it serves a purpose to acknowledge that flatrate systems 
essentially are taxation systems. They should be subject to political 
scrutiny, recognising that the purpose is not just $$$$$ for record 
companies but (perhaps primarily) acess to culture.

reinier