Recent reports have said that by next year people in Germany will have to pay for using their computers no matter what. Behind this outrageous plan are the states’ broadcasting offices (of which there are 9, because it is federally organized — yep, that’s a major money drain nowadays). So, ironically enough, after having been ordered by court to limit their online activity, these organizations now try to charge fees for something they are not fully allowed to offer. Think about that for a sec.
In most other European countries, people are only to pay for TVs and radios. Sticking to this system has some sense, but what it does under the hood is not always clear and by far not to understand for everybody. Part of it is for maintaining the technical broadcast infrastructure, although analog broadcasting is almost no more used for TV. But cable and satellite are not operated by the public TV stations, and the telephone wires certainly not! Combine these two conclusions (there are some more, but that’s something to cover later), and (if you’re affected by this issue) ask yourself if you’re really gonna take this one.