> Richard Hodges wrote:
> >
> > Sure, no argument there. Taking Wes' suggestion, maybe there is an
> > opportunity in the "official" distribution distinction. How about a
> > "certificate of authenticity" which costs the vendors $1 or $2 (or
> > whatever), and shows the customer that their choice of vendors helped
> > FreeBSD financially. Incidentally, this certificate might also be a
> > selling point for those twisted individuals that just don't understand
> > free software :-)
>
> Now that's an idea, but it raises problems with shipping the
"certificates"
> across national borders, causing import duties, etc. Maybe if we made
> the certificates in PostScript or even fig files. ;^)
I'm not sure how much of a difference the "certificate" would make, as far
as import duties goes. I live in Canada (Toronto, Ontario), and accoriding
to new rules that came into effect on Jan 1/2001, my CDs (which are
considered "computer programs, electronic media") are now subject to 5%
duty, 7% GST, 8% provincial tax, plus a $5.00 handling charge by Canada
Post. (So much for NAFTA!) So on a USD$30 set of CDs (CAD$45), that works
out to be about $15 in taxes and fees due to the classification. I don't
see how a "certificate" would change that for the worse. (Well, unless the
discs started being shipped via UPS. Then I'd get dinged for a $20 handing
fee instead of $5.)
For those in Europe or Australia, I'm not sure what the import rules are,
but I'm sure they already have to pay some sort of import duties, and I
don't see how the inclusion of a certificate would change that for the
worse.
I do like the idea of a "certificate", but unless it's flashy like MS's, it
might not make much of a difference to management.
--
Matt Emmerton
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