News Canadian MP3 tax is a no-go

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/01/15/canadian_mp3_tax_is_a_no-go/1

Plans to introduce a levy on the sale of digital audio players - yes, including the ubiquitous iPod - have been scotched by the Canadian Federal Court of Appeals.

 

i guess these idiots need to watch MTV cribs. with there basketball courts, swimming pools, home cimena's and hummers, they dont look like there starving to me!!!!

 

Absurd.

I presume if they put this tax in place, it will mean that anyone who buys an MP3 player in Canada simultaneously acquires a legal right to fill it with music acquired from any source, including copies of mates' CDs, P2P downloads etc., and that, accordingly, P2P downloading of all MP3 files will be legalised in Canada? No? Didn't think so.

Doesn't seem fair to punish the law abiding Canadians who just rip their own CDs or use legal download services by taxing them to compensate artists who lose out through the illegal activities of others. What next? Maybe a tax on hard drives? Most illegally shared MP3s are, after all, stored on the sharer's hard drive, so why not put a levy on them? If it's $75 for 30GB ($2.50 per GB) then surely it should be $1,250 for a 500GB drive?

Oh well, maybe all Canadians will just start jumping over to the US to spend their strong Canadian dollars on cheap US MP3 players without the tax?

 

That would be simply....stupid. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have to pay extra money if I choose to buy an MP3 Player because of "starving" artists.

 

cant argue with that logic.