So if the taxman/(Big Brother) is now to get a share of the revenues some Big Tech obtain exploiting our personal data… who is going to defend us citizens?

Sir, you deem “The ability of some of the world’s most profitable companies to escape paying fair levels of tax…unfair both to other businesses which do not trade internationally and to governments, which lose substantial revenue” “France leads the way on taxing tech more fairly”, July 12.

It might be unfair to us taxpaying citizens but “unfair to the government”, what on earth do you mean with that? That sounds like something statist redistribution profiteers could predicate but, frankly, the government has no natural right to any income.

And since Big Techs like Facebook and Google obtain most of their revenues by exploiting us citizens’ personal data, then if there were some real search for fairness, a tax on ad revenues from such exploitation should better be returned directly to us, perhaps by helping to fund a universal basic income.

But what ‘s the worst with these taxes is that now effectively governments will be partners with these companies in the exploitation of our data. With such incentives do you really believe our interest will be duly defended? We, who are afraid of what all our data could feed with information a Big Brother government, must now recoil in horror from that we will also be suffering an even richer and more powerful Big Brother.

PS. Sir, it is not the first time I have warned you about this.

https://teawithft.blogspot.com/2018/03/our-need-to-concern-ourselves-about-use.html

https://perkurowski.blogspot.com/2019/05/i-have-some-ideas-about-what-could.html

@PerKurowski

Record labels and Social Media, negotiate copyright issues among you, but please don’t endanger our heartfelt covers

Sir, Anna Nicolaou writes: “The big record labels are pressing the world’s largest social media network… to tackle copyright for cover songs and other content that fans post to their newsfeeds” “Record labels press Facebook to face the music over breaches of copyright” December 29.

That saddens me. On my 60th birthday, thinking about what I could give myself, I came up with the idea of recording and posting on YouTube one cover of a song I have liked in my life, for each day during the whole next year, and so I did, 365 songs! Phew, was I relieved it was not a leap year! Can you imagine how I would feel seeing all that effort and memories just vanishing? http://mynoisyvoice.blogspot.com

If my modest covers generate some ad-revenues, the record labels and the social media should come to an agreement on how to share these… but under no circumstances should it affect all of us who want to express admiration in this way for the songs in our life.

By the way I can’t imagine how any of my covers would impede a single sale of a record containing it; in fact, by reminding people of its existence, it could even generate some new sales. I was indeed moved when one of my covers received the following comment: “Thank you for interpreting so well the song of my grandfather…. I am proud that the memory of his work is not erased over time, and that by disseminating it, do not let it die, an affectionate greeting from….”

If there were one reason I could though understand for the owner of a copyright to take down my YouTube cover, it would be that the song’s original composer expressed horror over how I might be murdering it. Sir, I pray not too many will. 

PS. On my http://ayearofsongs.blogspot.com, with respect to copyrights I actually wrote:

“One is always worried about issues such as copyrights, as one does not want to end up in a slammer at any age, even if voicing some of these beautiful songs could perhaps be worth it.

What I will try to do is to check out on the web if someone else has been doing a cover of the song or any other one by I believe is of the same composer and, if so, I will presume it is ok for me to do it too.

Of course if someone protests loudly, not only for a copyright infringement but also because the composer feels I am destroying or in any other sense behaving disrespectfully towards his baby, I will ipso facto take it down and replace it with another song.”

@PerKurowski

If Disney though dead makes money on Mickey Mouse © why can’t Per Kurowski do the same on Per Kurowski © while alive?

Sir, let me use Tim Harford’s “Copyright and wrongs” of October 3, in order to bring to your and his attention, my own copyright wishes.

I have spent my whole life, carefully, with great love and dedication, developing interest and taste for many different things. And now, all my efforts doing so, are being vulgarly commercialized by third parties, to whoever thinks he could use it in order to tempt me to buy something or to donate to some cause.

With that information on me, they pursue me on the web and on the phone, day and night. And I can hardly escape any longer. In fact I am no longer a completely free man, I am now being trapped by my own past preferences and blocked from exploring new horizons. “Tell me what you like and I will show you what you like” is a vicious spiritual deathtrap that engulfs you more and more.

And there’s little or nothing in it for me. Oh, if only I could have a copyright on my own preferences… only until I am dead, not one day more. I swear I would not hire lawyers to extend its validity.

If that were possible, I would immediately enlist one of those many emerging ad-blockers, to make sure I was reasonably compensated for any ad that targeted me using what is included in Per Kurowski ©.

And of course, if I also had to look at those ads, I would want some compensation for using up my so scarce attention span. I have initially been thinking about a low revisable fee of US$1 per 30 second of serious attention to anything serious information they want to feed me. 

In order to stimulate the ad-blocker for maximizing my copyright and my attention span revenues, I have thought of paying it a 30 percent commission rate. Sounds reasonable eh?

@PerKurowski ©

Ad-blockers, do not allow any unsolicited ads on my mobile… unless of course I get paid good money for looking at it.

Sir, Richard Waters writes: “Slow loading times for mobile web pages — when users are paying for data… cost more than just time” and yet, while discussing the issue of ad blocking he refers to all major actors, except the users. “Who gets to block ads is flip side of who gets to decide which get through” September 10.

It is we the users who end up bearing the brunt of the costs, when having our limited and valuable attention span filled up with noises of all types. And so therefore let me repeat a request for ad-blocking services that would better serve my purpose.

I want an ad-blocking that charges anyone trying to send me an unrequested solicitation of any sort, or more than one per moth of the requested, to charge the advertiser an adjustable fee for me to look at it. Let us say initially US$1 per 30 second’s view. And on that income I would be willing to pay the ad-blocker for his services an adjustable commission, let us say initially 20%.

An alternative in which I could perhaps bypass the ad-blocker is signing up an agreement, for instance with Facebook, Twitter, Google and Apple by which they share their revenues obtained from targeting me and my preferences, for instance, initially 50 percent.

Users unite! Let us maximize the returns for us of our valuable and very limited attention span. 

http://teawithft.blogspot.com/2015/07/my-ideal-adblocker-besides-earning-on.html

http://teawithft.blogspot.com/2015/03/i-want-net-40-percent-of-revenues.html

http://perkurowski.blogspot.com/2015/06/for-1us-i-will-look-for-30-seconds-with.html

http://perkurowski.blogspot.com/2014/06/should-not-google-and-other-public-eyes.html
http://teawithft.blogspot.ca/2007/06/in-search-of-answers-on-search-engines.html

@PerKurowski

My ideal adblocker, besides earning on what he blocks, should earn on the "quality" ($$$) of what he passes through to me.

Sir, Henry Mance refers to the opinion of Didier Truchot, president and co-founder of Ipsos in that “The idea that Facebook, Google and others should pay internet users for information does not stand up because the sums involved would not attract wealthy consumers”, “Plan to pay internet users for personal data would attract ‘just the poor’, warns Ipsos” July 1.

That depends, if the wealthy are an attractive consumer target, then they might be willing to pay more, not for the data on them but for their attention span.

For instance if non-wealthy little me could get a copyright on those personal preferences that data on me currently reveals, then I could make the following public offer: 

For 1US$ (revisable), for 30 seconds, with reasonable interest, I will look at any unsolicited ad directed to me while travelling the web.

I hereby declare that I am a great consumer and I have a good history of easily falling prey to offers on the web. That said, nothing here should be interpreted as a commitment to purchase anything or to otherwise follow or do what is suggested in any ad for which I have been paid a royalty.

And I would then contract an ad-blocker, not just for blocking purposes, but also to assure those advertisers sufficiently interested in me so as to be willing to pay good money, have access to me. Depending on the efficiency by which I am served, and the little I would get bothered by any unauthorized access to me, I will offer the ad-blocker up to 30% of any income derived by me in royalties on my copyright on my own preferences.

Of course, any really wealthy could charge much more for his attention span.

Sadly though, this does not seem very compatible with the fight against inequality championed by so many… but does that mean I should waste my time attention span for free? Yet, the wealthy could always donate their attention span usage income to the less well off.

@PerKurowski