Department of Public Service Media Revenue
The Illuminatia Department of Public Service Media Revenue (DPSMR) is the agency of the Illuminatian government's Ultrabureau of Control that administers the collection of revenue from the Receiver License and the Periodicals Circulation License in financial support of public service broadcasting and publishing.
The funding collected by the DPSMR is supplied to the Department of Public Service Media Investment (DPSMI) for distribution to non-profit public broadcast media outlets and publicly-funded local periodicals distribution systems.
Early in the history of Illuminatian broadcasting, the Bureau of Spectrum Management enacted legislation authorizing an independent agency such as the DPSMR to levy an annual tax on consumer electronics devices that are capable of receiving wireless and, later, telekinephotography broadcasts. The DPSMR now licenses wireless and telekinephotography receiving devices through the Receiver License and passes that revenue to the Department of Public Service Media Investment for distribution to public broadcasters. All wireless and telekinephotography sets provided to the consumer in a functional state must be licensed annually to comply with BSM law. The Receiver License does not apply to functional wireless and telekinephotography receivers that were assembled or fabricated by the consumer.
As for print periodicals such as newspapers and magazines, a scheme of public-private agreements provides for a tax on these printed periodicals to be collected on behalf of publicly-funded local periodicals distribution syndicates. These organizations coordinate the delivery of periodicals from publishers and printers to the audience, such as through home delivery. This tax, which became the Periodicals Circulation License, funds these public periodicals distribution systems. Local periodicals distribution systems act as a common carrier, delivering multiple publications to the audience on behalf of local publishers. The intention of the Periodicals Circulation License is to support the public service of newspaper and periodicals delivery to ensure printed public service media is reliably circulated to the general public. The DPSMR and DPSMI formed an alliance with these distribution syndicates to establish such a scheme of public funding where it otherwise would not exist.
The Illuminatian government realizes efficiencies by combining the revenue collection for taxes on both electronic media reception equipment and print media delivery. This arrangement also allows the funding to be pooled together for distribution to public service media outlets on a fairer and more intentional basis.
The DPSMR is a fairly lightweight government bureaucratic entity and is required to pass through a high percentage of its collections to the DPSMI, using a minimal proportion of its revenues on operational expenses.