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View Full Version : The Solution or Dumb-Ass Idea?


radiationroom
December 22nd, 2007, 09:25 PM
AS POSTED ON REC*AUDIO*PRO - http://recproaudio.blogspot.com/ - Dec 22, 2007

Canada: New Levies Proposed for iPods and Memory Cards - Canada follows Spain with potential digital tax on various music players and storage devices

Consumers could potentially be hit by a new tax on electronic storage devices such as iPods and blank memory cards in 2008.

The federal Copyright Board has given its approval for a special levy on iPods and other digital players because they can be used to copy movies and music.

The proposed levies range in price including:

85 cents for rewritable CDs and MiniDisc
$2 for 1 GB removable electronic memory cards
$25 for a digital audio recorder between 1 and 10 GBs
$75 for digital audio recorder of more than 30 GBs

From CTV: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071221/copyright_act_071221/20071222?hub=CTVNewsAt11

Those numbers look dumb-assed to me. In order to "disincentivize" people from copying CDs to CD-R media, the tax on the CD-R media needs to raise the product price so blanks sell at the same price that pressed music CDs sell for.

Another recient Canadian proposal was to add a tax to all internet access, which would have the effect of a compulsory license on copyrighted media. IMO compulsory licenses are a dumb-assed idea that needs to be done away with because it forces "maximum wage caps" on what content creators get paid while skipping minimum wage protections for the same work. The French got smart and are actually enforcing their copyright laws. I hope and pray that someone in Canada smells the coffee and wakes the hell up on this issue instead of creating bullshit taxes that will encourage even more copyright abuse! :Mad: :Mad: :Mad:

Spock
December 23rd, 2007, 07:32 PM
Dumb-Ass Idea.

First it didn't do a damn thing for nusic copying when they added a tax to blank tapes years ago. Oh and not just audio tapes, but any tape. So now days about the only users of 4mm DAT drives is for data, but the blank tapes still have a tax on them.

Second, just like the old tax, where does this tax money go? The copyright holders that are the ones not getting money because of downloads and copies, they don't get any of this tax money.

Tax or fee on internet access. Again who gets the money?

Bob Olhsson
December 23rd, 2007, 08:03 PM
FWIW DAT was DOA in all of the markets where copy protection wasn't required too.

The #1 reason people taped records was so that they could play them in their car. You could play a CD in your car. The product was DOA despite all of the blathering from those who don't want to pay for music.