PVRs to be exempt from European custom duties

From Broadband Television News:

Published: 11.28 Europe/London, April 14, 2011 by Julian Clover

Decoders with a hard disk drive ? such as the Sky+ box ? are to be exempted
from customs duties following a landmark ruling from the European Court of
Justice.

The devices are to be classified for customs purposes as set-top boxes with a
communications function and not as recording apparatus. It means that they will
now be exempt from customs duties rather than being subject to a rate of 13.9%.

Rates of custom duties imported from third countries into the European Union
are set out under European law. A list of goods classification and the tariff
applicable under each category is published each year.

BSkyB had challenged the ruling on the import of the Sky+ personal video
recorder, at the time manufactured on behalf of Pace, which joined Sky in the
action. They argued that Sky+ receivers should be counted as a set-top box with
a communications function, freeing them from the rate.

The case was referred to the Court of Justice by the First-tier Tribunal (Tax
Chamber). ?Consumers subscribe to service-providers such as Sky principally to
be able to access the television programmes offered and, in order to do so,
they need a box such as the Sky+ box. The television programme recording
function, which is also available on that model, is merely an additional
service,? said the Court. ?Consumers who choose that product are seeking,
primarily, not a recording function, but rather a function of decoding
television signals, although their choice may be influenced by the fact it has
a recording function or by the number of hours of programming that can be
recorded?.

The Court said the conclusion was borne out by the fact that the Sky+ box
cannot record video content from any other external source and cannot play
video content from external media ? such as DVDs or videotapes ? and is not
capable of recording video content onto external media.

The Sky+ HD box is now the standard product given to new customers.

--

Terry

The Court said the conclusion was borne out by the fact that the Sky+ box
cannot record video content from any other external source and cannot play
video content from external media ? such as DVDs or videotapes ? and is
not
capable of recording video content onto external media.

The Sky+ HD box is now the standard product given to new customers.

Not PVRs then as Freesat boxes can play iPlayer etc i.e. external content.
Many can also have content loaded onto them.

Paul DS

Paul D Smith wrote:
: Not PVRs then as Freesat boxes can play iPlayer etc i.e. external content.
: Many can also have content loaded onto them.

Freesat PVRs do NOT use their HDDs when playing iPlayer content - and thus
would be in exactly the same position as Sky+. You cannot load content onto
any that I know of!

"Brian Mc" wrote in message
...
Paul D Smith wrote:
: Not PVRs then as Freesat boxes can play iPlayer etc i.e. external
content.
: Many can also have content loaded onto them.

Freesat PVRs do NOT use their HDDs when playing iPlayer content - and thus
would be in exactly the same position as Sky+. You cannot load content
onto
any that I know of!

You've not been following the threads on the latest Humax boxes then?
Because they use GPL software, enterprising souls long-ago added FTP
support.

And I can upload files to my Humax 9200 over USB - photos definitely, MP3s
definitely and I believe with a lot of effort, video.

Paul DS.

Paul D Smith wrote:
: You've not been following the threads on the latest Humax boxes then?
: Because they use GPL software, enterprising souls long-ago added FTP
: support.

And your point is??? The EU tax system cannot and will not legislate on the
basis of any working (or half-working!) after market modifications to
devices! They WILL still be taxed as a PVR - which is now at a lower rate
and the point of this thread!

This begs the question of why should a recording device attract more duty in
the first place, OK I could understand it if it was a tape or disc recorder
where the media is removable and thus there might well be a levy toward the
poor old folk who will lose revenue from the duplication in this way,, but
this otherwise seems to be just another screw the end user system.

Brian

--
Brian Gaff -
Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff'
in the display name may be lost.
Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Terry Casey" wrote in message
...

From Broadband Television News:

Published: 11.28 Europe/London, April 14, 2011 by Julian Clover

Decoders with a hard disk drive ? such as the Sky+ box ? are to be
exempted
from customs duties following a landmark ruling from the European Court of
Justice.

The devices are to be classified for customs purposes as set-top boxes
with a
communications function and not as recording apparatus. It means that they
will
now be exempt from customs duties rather than being subject to a rate of
13.9%.

Rates of custom duties imported from third countries into the European
Union
are set out under European law. A list of goods classification and the
tariff
applicable under each category is published each year.

BSkyB had challenged the ruling on the import of the Sky+ personal video
recorder, at the time manufactured on behalf of Pace, which joined Sky in
the
action. They argued that Sky+ receivers should be counted as a set-top box
with
a communications function, freeing them from the rate.

The case was referred to the Court of Justice by the First-tier Tribunal
(Tax
Chamber). ?Consumers subscribe to service-providers such as Sky
principally to
be able to access the television programmes offered and, in order to do
so,
they need a box such as the Sky+ box. The television programme recording
function, which is also available on that model, is merely an additional
service,? said the Court. ?Consumers who choose that product are seeking,
primarily, not a recording function, but rather a function of decoding
television signals, although their choice may be influenced by the fact it
has
a recording function or by the number of hours of programming that can be
recorded?.

The Court said the conclusion was borne out by the fact that the Sky+ box
cannot record video content from any other external source and cannot play
video content from external media ? such as DVDs or videotapes ? and is
not
capable of recording video content onto external media.

The Sky+ HD box is now the standard product given to new customers.

--

Terry

It would be interesting to know what they would do if the functions were not
provided but installed by a free software upgrade later on.

Brian

--
Brian Gaff -
Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff'
in the display name may be lost.
Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Paul D Smith" wrote in message
...
The Court said the conclusion was borne out by the fact that the Sky+ box
cannot record video content from any other external source and cannot
play
video content from external media ? such as DVDs or videotapes ? and is
not
capable of recording video content onto external media.

The Sky+ HD box is now the standard product given to new customers.

Not PVRs then as Freesat boxes can play iPlayer etc i.e. external content.
Many can also have content loaded onto them.

Paul DS

On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:47:15 +0000, Brian Mc wrote:

Paul D Smith wrote: : You've not been
following the threads on the latest Humax boxes then? : Because they use
GPL software, enterprising souls long-ago added FTP : support.

And your point is??? The EU tax system cannot and will not legislate on
the basis of any working (or half-working!) after market modifications
to devices! They WILL still be taxed as a PVR - which is now at a lower
rate and the point of this thread!

But it is a bit of a grey area and, if pushed too far, the authorities
might change things.

I vaguely recall hearing about a product sold in the US during
prohibition whose instructions said: Don't under any circumstances store
this product under some specific conditions as it will ferment and
become an illegal alcoholic beverage.


--
Steve Hayes, South Wales, UK - remove colours from address

"Terry Casey" wrote in message
...

From Broadband Television News:

Published: 11.28 Europe/London, April 14, 2011 by Julian Clover

Decoders with a hard disk drive ? such as the Sky+ box ? are to be
exempted
from customs duties following a landmark ruling from the European Court of
Justice.

The devices are to be classified for customs purposes as set-top boxes
with a
communications function and not as recording apparatus. It means that they
will
now be exempt from customs duties rather than being subject to a rate of
13.9%.



So are we likely to see a 10% drop in PVR prices?

--
Alex

On Fri, 15 Apr 2011 20:57:38 +0100, "Dr Zoidberg"
wrote:

"Terry Casey" wrote in message
...

From Broadband Television News:

Published: 11.28 Europe/London, April 14, 2011 by Julian Clover

Decoders with a hard disk drive ? such as the Sky+ box ? are to be
exempted
from customs duties following a landmark ruling from the European Court of
Justice.

The devices are to be classified for customs purposes as set-top boxes
with a
communications function and not as recording apparatus. It means that they
will
now be exempt from customs duties rather than being subject to a rate of
13.9%.



So are we likely to see a 10% drop in PVR prices?

LOL. They'll just make 10% more profit.
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Due to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking some articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.