Canadian copyright collective wants a music tax on memory cards

Canadian copyright collective wants a music tax on memory cards: "Michael Geist sez, 'Canadians currently pay levies on blank CDs (and cassettes) and now the Canadian Private Copying Collective, which collects the private copying revenues, would like to establish a new levy on blank memory cards used in a wide range of devices such as smartphones and digital cameras.

The financial impact of the levy would be significant. A 2GB SD card currently sells for about $6.00 and this would add an additional dollar or almost 15% to the cost. Given that the levy would remain static (or even increase) but the costs of SD cards are dropping by roughly 30% annually, the percentage of levy in the overall cost would likely gradually increase over time. Moreover, music plays a small role in the use of memory cards.'

You know, I'd be willing to consider this as a wildly imperfect compromise, if the quid-pro-quo was no more file-sharing lawsuits and threats, no more DRM laws, no more lawsuits against toolsmiths and ISPs, no more censorship and surveillance demands... But as far as I can tell, the deal on offer is: 'pay up and get nothing in return.'

Forget the iPod Tax, Canadian Copyright Collective Demanding Memory Card Tax

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