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Canadian Copyright Group Wants iPod Tax
soulxtc writes "Unable to define memory as a 'recording medium,' Canada's Private Copyright Collective goes directly after portable music player devices, memory cards, and anything else that can be used to make private copies. The PCC submitted a proposal to the country's Copyright Board that suggests levies of $5 (Canadian) on devices with up to 1GB of memory, $25 for 1-10 GB, $50 for 10-30 GB, and $75 for over 30 GB. If approved, this propoal would increase the price of a 30-GB iPod by 26%. These collections are intended to compensate artists and labels for the losses they suffer when people 'illegally' copy or transfer music. The PCC is also seeking a new $2 to $10 tax on memory cards. The backbone of digital photography has become tangled up in the fight for making sure music companies get every nickel and dime they feel that they deserve."
Is anybody else up for a Canadian Tea Party?
state-sanctioned anal penetration!
It's a Canadian tradition. Why else would we legalize gay marriage?
I have written a truly remarkable program which this sig is too small to contain.
The members of the RIAA and the Canadian equivalent will be the first against the wall when the revolution comes.
Ah, fuck it. Why wait for a revolution? Everybody get your guns and we'll meet down at the bar to plan our attack on these useless leeches.
-- Will program for bandwidth
that the recording industries believe that all they have to to do make money is to make more laws?
Why don't they try something novel like oh.... selling a product to us?
I say we pass a law that everyone that buys a crowbar has to pay me a nickel, to make up for the losses I incur every time someone breaks into my house. ya.
Idiots. No, I take that back. By saying that I'm just insulting the idots and that's not fair for even them.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
The problem with current copyright laws is that in the future everyone might be able to have that sort of memory for hearing, sight etc. You can also have virtual telepathy. Most of the tech is already available, it's just a matter of cost and making the implants safer and better.
As it is, you'd probably have to have DRM in your brain "add-on", and possibly pay a fee just to remember stuff, and be prohibited from communicating with your friends about certain things.
A penny for your thoughts? That's probably too cheap for the RIAA, MPAA etc.
That'd be great since I wouldn't feel bad when I download OpenBSD instead of buying the CDs. The government would obviously give them their fair share of the levy...
Wow. They probably spent 3 meetings and 1 focus group to design the pricing scheme, and in 1 line you tear it apart completely.
Never quite understood how these levies/tariffs are distributed back to the artists.
... and then burn it all on a CD for my car driving pleasure ... how does the RIAA know how to distribute the funds to the starving artists in this case ?
... money from my pocket ends up in hers anyway ?
.. for a fee of course.
So say if I download a few songs from groups such as Blood-Axe, mix it up with a bit of psy-trance from Finland, and then round it out with some Pendulum
What, they dont ?
So you mean despite the efforts of the original muso's involved, plus my time to mix and burn the CD - they just end up writing out yet another cheque to Celine Dion for all of our collective efforts ?
Fuck No !
Ive never wanted to even to listen to Celine Dion. Not ever !
But when I step into an elevator, or pass through a shoe shop - there she is, singing in the background and generally ruining my day.
I dont want to listen to her, but yet she still gets royalties out of me when I make my own CD, or backup my harddisk ?
That is so totally around the wrong fucking way. Man - I should be PAID by Celine Dion instead as compensation for HAVING to listen to any of her music, which is clearly against my wishes. She infringes upon my personal aural liberty, and yet
That is just WRONG on so many levels.
Seriously - does ANYONE go the effort of actually downloading Celine Dion music and burning it on CD's Why ? So they can hold hands with their so-called 'friends' and dance around and be silly between glasses of cheap wine ?
What they should do is just stick to selling normal CD's and iPods and things without the tarriffs, but give people the right, if they so choose, to pay $100 and get a licence key that will put their CD Burner or iPod into some sort of crappy 'Celine Dion Mode'. In the same way that you can take a perfectly good PC, and pay $400 or whatever it is to stick Vista on there - enabling 'Celine Dion' mode on the iPod will virtually trash the machine, in exchange for getting the 'Wow' of having it play Celine Dion songs
The iPod should just operate normally, unless you 'opt-in', and pay the fee, after which the iPod degrades itself to the point where it will play Celine Dion music. 'Look Herbert, my iPod it now plays Celine Dion !!'. 'Yayy !'. 'Hey Clarence, your iPod - its turning a pale shade of Green !!'. 'Its all about the Yayy !!'.
Its just WRONG
...I should legally be able to walk right up to any artist and kick them in the nads.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Don't tell let them hear you, or we're all screwed. What happens when they realise we can record music in our memories and play it back at will, will they start taxing our brains. 'Spose I'd best start drinking heavily to reduce my capacity.
First God made idiots. That was for practice. Then He made Jack Thompson.
then demand that DRM be removed! If you're paying for it, then it's not stealing.
This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
OT, but pretty funny.
A couple of years ago in Sweden a prostitute demanded to be able to be able pay tax on her income, she argued that she too had a right to the social benefits this provides (In Sweden, prostituting yourself in not illegal, pimping or buying sex is though).
After a lot of fuss with the tax authorities, she was finally granted to pay tax on her prostitution income. She then immediatley sued our prime minister for selling sex, since he got a share of the money, she argued, he was acting as her pimp.
That courtcase never got far I think, but it was pretty funny none the less.
Shouldn't that be RIAAA and MPIAA.
I'd have guessed the R-I-Eh-Eh and the M-P-Eh-Eh.
Jenny's got a new number! 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0