Apple, Inc., is almost always in the news in the mobile industry for one reason or another. This time, we bring you dual stories about Apple headlines in Europe and in the United Kingdom itself. From taxes unpaid by several to several thousand false claims, Apple devices are usually the centre of some form of controversy or another.

French ‘Copy Tax’ Unpaid

Apple, Samsung, Motorola and other mobile device manufacturers are required to pay a French tariff called a copy tax. The copy tax is a portion of the sales price for every device on which a mobile user can create one’s own media, such as a personal dance video to popular music.

The copy tax might equate to a royalty fee or royalty license for downloaded music.

A European court dismissed copy taxes for 2012, and Apple and others are refusing to pay the tax for 2011.

Apple reportedly owes €4.74 million from the half-million iPads sold in France in 2011. A tariff of €12 is owed on each 64-gigabyte iPad sold.

It is noteworthy that the French tax is required if the device sold is capable of creating personal multimedia – not if it is actually created by the purchaser. The copy tax is, in essence, a

“what if”

tax that ignores the user’s free will and monetarily penalises the mobile device manufacturer for the capability.

iPhones Lead False Mobile Insurance Claims

Respectively, mobile insurance claims tripled in the UK for Apple iPhones, BlackBerry phones and HTC devices over the last three years.

Factored as primary influences in the false insurance claims are the increased perceived desirability of smartphones, the added durability of the devices, long contract terms and tough economic times.

The study was quick to note that the majority influx of claims arrives just after new models are released.

CPP Group stated there was a four-percent increase in iPhone claims just after the iPhone 4S was released, and insurers are obligated to pay the claims as replacement stock is non-existent.

CPP continued their statistical analysis, declaring approximately 59 percent of all mobile phone insurance claims are for iPhones and 25 percent for BlackBerry devices.