[alvarlagerlof]

In Sweden there was this whole thing where you apparently had to pay even if you only owned a laptop.

[eastbound]

In France you pay the copyright infringement tax on every hard drive / SSD / storage you purchase. But it’s still forbidden to pirate movies.

[__turbobrew__]

* Slaps 22TiB SMR drive * This baby can fit so many Linux ISOs on it.

[AshamedCaptain]

It is not "copyright infringement" tax. It's called a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_copying_levy and it's a rather common thing, at least in all of Europe.

[crazygringo]

Seems close enough. The article even discusses how it is "often considered a compensation for illegal file sharing". And even if it's common, that doesn't make it any less unfair. (Indeed, the longest section of the article is titled "Questions on fairness".)

[AshamedCaptain]

It is often _confused_ with. It does not imply it is.

[mr_toad]

I read that as “Pirate” copying levy. Took a few takes to read it as “Private”.