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Canada to Raise Tariffs on Recordable Media
Joel Ironstone writes: "A new Canadian levy will be introduced in 2003 on all recordable media (pdf). The magnitude of these tariffs is staggering: $1.23 for all CD-RW's, $2.27 on all DVD-R's, and get this: $21 for each gigabyte of storage on portable MP3 players. That's an extra 160 dollars for a Nomad." Like in the U.S., this tax is collected and given directly to the record industry, a governmental subsidy for no apparent societal benefit.
Since the government is going to give money to RIAA
and MPAA then it should be legal to pirate. They
will be able to make all their money by subsidy.
... is that this will make all the other recording companies that much bolder. Considering how close Canada and the US are physically, socially, and economically, it's not a huge leap to have the companies push for it to extend here for "consistency." This is a damn steep slope.
Nicotine free Amish .sig.
Its insane. Worst part is that a tax on cigarrettes would be fought vigorously and there would be national debate. But when it comes to this, the general public is ignorant of the issues.
.. unless a major lobbying force and an education campaign happens.
Government is elected by the people, when laws like this pass and the people dont hold the government accountable, more laws like this will pass. Unfortunately only tech types understand the issues here, so basically everyone's screwed
If Canada wants to compete technologically this is a extremely bad move and it will screw over the economy.
What right does the government have to steal people's money in order to fund corporations? There is absolutely NO justifiable reason to tax people in order to benefit private corporations. This is an absolute disgrace. Whoever is responsible for this should be deported.
The only solution to this is to import everything from the US for a much lower price, and to pirate much more music as revenge. Actually, it wouldn't be piracy, as the music has already been paid for through taxes.
News like this always make me wonder when there's finally going to be a new revolution in "the land of the free" which would make it that once again.
But I'm afraid that after 9/11 it'd be very hard to do something seemingly against your own country... Pity.
I actually do hope the craziness ends someday.
Yesterday was the time to do it right. Are we having a REVOLUTION yet?
The obvious solution is to set up your own record company. Then just sit back and wait for your handouts.
-- And when Justice is gone, there is always... Force. --Laurie Anderson, "Oh Superman"
how about handhelds (mini handheld HP/compaq computers or whatever you call them) that has mp3 playback functionality? are they going to add tarifs to that too? :(
or cell phones... but i guess that would be going too far...
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This is rediculous. The only reason that these companies get away with this is that there's some kickback somewhere. I gaurentee that if someone were to dig deep enough, they'd find a lot of this "tax" in the pockets of some officials.
In 'free' countries, taxes are supposed to be levied for the benefit of the people. The money collected should be put back into a social program of some kind. Canada is supposed to be a socialist government, but it seems that they're trying to more and more make the same mistakes as the US without taking any of the virtues. I don't know about the rest of the country, but BC is becoming about as democratic as the old USSR. If the Campbell administration doesn't like the way a arbitration turned out (doctors) or that a labor union is striking (the teachers) they just legislate the problem away. The doctors aren't even allowed to sue the government over the issue under the bill that was passed.
The recordable media issue is just more of the same. We're losing our freedoms, not to the big scary governments, but to the corperations; to people we can't vote out of office and can't effect in any way. They obviously have 'representatives' at their beck and call (DMCA) to make whatever laws that they feel benefit their profit margins (SSSCA). Government is supposed to be representing the best interests of the people of the country, but it seems here to be representing the best interests of the corperations.
The Canadian government, like it's Big Brother to the south, has traded consumer piracy for corporate larceny.
--
Mike Nugent
-- Mike wildcard@illuminatus.org
I think Apple can sell their iPod as a firewire hard-disk, if they change the software.
So the question is: will all devices that CAN be used as a MP3-player be taxed (Pocket-PC devices etc.)?
How about a MP3-player that comes with no memory of it's own.
One intersting thing is that it specifically states that only Owners of copyrighted MUSIC can share a portion of the tarrifs... and specifically excludes "Computer Software Programs"....
Now correct me if I'm wrong.. Doesn't the Software industry claim to lose even more billions of dollars a year in piracy revenue(potential or not) then the music industry does?
Now why would the software industry not lobby for a levy like this?
1. Perhaps they know there would be a large backlash against their industry?
2. They know the whole concept is just free cash for the music producers?(granted its canadian play money but hey ya know...)
3. OR IS IT THE MUSIC INDUSTRY specifially wanted them excluded from the deal so they don't have to share there free cut of the cash cow.
things that make ya go hmmmmmmmm..............eh?
Although don't call it pirating (which is a dumb term anyway), since it's not illegal. In Canada, we're allowed to borrow CDs and make copies of them for personal use. That's what the tax^H^H^Hlevy is supposed to offset; unfortunately, if you buy CD-Rs to burn the latest FreeBSD, you're still supporting Celine Dion's retirement fund.
"If he thinks he can hide and run from the United States and our allies, he's sorely mistaken." Bush on bin Laden
Only by your standards, because you artificially make others' statements into a boolean of 'government interference' OR '! government interference' which would also make the following (hypothetical) person appear to be a hypocrite:
"I am against the government passing a law forcing me to vote Democrat" ('government interference' = FALSE)
"I am a proponent of the government locking away rapists" ('government interference' = TRUE)
Hypocrite!!
I know these examples are extreme; the point is, yes people are selective because they aren't using the same (Libertarian) ruler as you are. The fact is, most people you label as being 'selective' are measuring one view on 'government intervention' when a crime has been commited vs. 'government interference' in anticipation of a hypothetical/potential crime. Try to at least see what kind of ruler others are using.
-chris
San Francisco values: compassion, tolerance, respect, intelligence
Hmm, so when these taxes come true, it will be ok to trade commersial music in ways that today are thought of as illegal? Since you pay the music industry thru taxes on storage you should'nt need to pay for the records...
"Like in the U.S., this tax is collected and given directly to the record industry, a governmental subsidy for no apparent societal benefit."
How is this different from say, they way the US is taxing steel imports and farm product imports or the way Japan taxes automotive and electronic imports? Often, these taxes are used to subsidize the aforementioned industries too (especially, the farm industry).
I think this particular (potential) tax/subsidy strikes a nerve merely because it is something that falls within the collective radars of people who post here, NOT because it's something drastically different from things government has done in the past. The "societal benefit" is that it's protecting jobs of the people who work in that industry in that country.
First -- MOD THIS PARENT UP
Holy crap! Excuse me for being a doubting thomas, but can you point to some evidence about the $0.21 tax on CD-R (Data - not audio). If your right about that, I think I might seek out a lawyer and try to sue the RIAA. I'm not kidding at all.
See, as an indipendent musician, I press my songs to CD-R's that I sell at shows I play, online, and through mail order. Now, I've known about the whole CD-R Audio scam for a while, and that's why I've never purchesed a CD writter that requires one of these taxed CD-R Audio discs. I mean, common! Why should the RIAA, who are by all means my main competitor, get any cut of the money I make off of selling my music? What kind of mafia extortion bullshit is this? But if it's true that regular CD-R's (data) are "taxed" as well, I think the RIAA owes me *ALOT* of money.
Once again, I'm not kidding. Are you an indie musician too, who is using CD-R's as your sales medium? Sue the RIAA. Talk about an abusive monopoly -- this should be the definition in Websters.
Come to think of it, this should piss off more than just musicians. How many companies back up server data (or whatever) onto CD-R? Should record labels get a cut of the money you spend on CD-R's, even though it's used for data?
So, anybody got any links/etc to back up this claim? I think it's time to try to rape the RIAA for some money for a change. Turn the tables, so to speak.
"The Wright brothers were the first to fly with a heavier-than-air machine, but boy did they have a lousy plane"
The Canadian government should remember that most of the country lives within a shopping day-trip of the U.S. Not only will Canadian businesses lose money to those making casual purchases over the line, the Candian government will lose tax revenue via lost VAT (or whatever you call it). People will buy their mp3 players in the U.S., take it out of the box, chuck the box, strap it to them, drive back across the border. Maybe Canadians should discuss this concern with their elected officials.
It kind of makes you wonder about Canadian sanity. To the south we have Bush passing an import tax on foreign steel to protect a dying U.S. industry. To the north, we have Canadians passing a tax that will only affect Candians and will benefit an industry making loads of money already.
Contrary to popular belief among the people who shop at best buy, THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE in the so called MUSIC CD-R's and a regular CD-R. Can I take a regular CD-R and record a CD that will work in any CD player? Yep! All excpet the oldest ones. Can I take one of those so called MUSIC CD's and burn data on it? Probably. Data is data and all a audio CD has on it is a digitized audio stream and nothing more. For all intents and purposes, the audio stream IS data. I will probably be modded down for saying this, but the post I am replying to should be modded down.
Gorkman
SSCA or tax on blank media? I know what I'd choose if I had to. Don't get me wrong neither sit well with me but given the choice.....
When someone yells "Stop" or goes limp, or taps out, the fight is over.
Yo folks, haven't you heard of the Boston Tea Party? Colonists protested unjust taxation on Tea imports by breaking into a tea shipment and throwing it into the ocean. Perhaps it's time to repeat this bit of history...
*Condense fact from the vapor of nuance*
If you actually plan to reply coherently, then a good place to start research is the document explaining the tariffs currently in place.
The document explains how the previous hearings went. In particular, pay attention to the part that explicitly says that the previous groups arguing against the tariff came woefully unprepared, relying mostly on trying to discredit the opposition's research as opposed to presenting their own.
The document also explains how the amount of 21 cents per CD-R and the other amounts were arrived at; they wasn't pulled out of the air. The CD-R tariff is a multiplication of (among other things) the ratio of the amount of time available on a CD-R to the average length of a prerecorded CD, a coaster (waste) percentage, a calculation of how much is given by the publishers to the copyright holders on a per-CD basis, the percentage of CDs bought by consumers, and the percentage of consumer CDs used to make private music copies.
It seems likely that this current set of hearings will be argued principally over these factors. It remains to be seen whether the CPCC (Canadian Private Copying Collective) can justify a 2.8x increase in the CD-R tariff, since this would most likely come from an increase in the proportion of consumer-bought CD-Rs and the %age of CD-Rs used to private copy.
From a consumer standpoint, increasing the cost of a CD-R by 50% and that of an MP3 player by 25% are likely to be seen as unpalatable (at best) and inspiring a consumer revolt complete with smuggling (at worst). Yet given the scope of the hearnings and the established formula, it is unclear as to whether such an objection can be mounted.
Careers should combine three things: what you can do, what you want to do, and what you can get paid for.
A number of points:
1) Don't tell people they have lost all reason. It is unlikely to advance your point.
2) The levies are not arbitrary. See the findings of the last hearing for the mathematical formula used to calculate them.
3) The Copyright Board is not suggesting the new levies. The Canadian Private Copying Colelctive (CPCC) is. They are the group to whom the levies are given, for later distribution to copyright holders.
4) The Copyright Board does not have the power to revoke the levies. They will not rule on the justification for copyright, nor Ms. Dion's need for another million. The Copyright Board does what the legislation behind it tells it to do.
5) I would suggest you make the unreasonable proportion of the cost of media your main thesis: $0.59 will probably represent over half of the cost of a CD-R at retail. $21/GB will add 25% to the cost of an MP3 player.
Careers should combine three things: what you can do, what you want to do, and what you can get paid for.