Consequences?

So they impose the tax, the average consumer who does not pirate has to pay this tax, where does that put the rationalizations of pirates? Heck, paying the piracy tax probably goes a step towards legitimizing the theft....

Beware of quick cash grabs, they don't dole for long and you never actually fix anything. You end up feeling like you did something when in fact you haven't. Then you trip.

Greed...

So Music Biz Inc want:

1) You not to be permitted to transfer a CD you own onto an mp3 you own

or

2) You to pay a tax on your mp3 player, and then you are allowed to transfer the CD you already own (and paid for) onto it...

I assume the tax wouldn't cover you for

3) You download a load of mp3s from the internet and copy them onto your (tax-paid) mp3 player... Because in this instance you've only paid for the music ONCE (in the tax).

Of course this brings me to another interesting point... As we often hear, Musicians need money to eat (buy coke etc), fine, so how exactly are they planning to divide up the income from this tax? Can I tick a box to say I don't want any going to gangster rap artists cos I don't own/like any of that? And exclude Britney too, cos I can't stand her either. Snow Patrol can have some, like them, and Scouting for Girls... etc etc...

"Won't Support"?

They "won't support" the law? Wait, we can do that? We can choose, as citizens, to not support a particular law? I'm going to not support embezzlement laws and I'm sure that I could find a large group of white collar types who would adopt a similar position. I know a lot of people here in the States would wouldn't support drug laws or violent crime laws. I suppose that I'm just assuming that their non-support for a law is meaningful.

Yes - just like Tapes

Err....didn't they try to do this 20 years ago with Cassette Tapes?
"The only reason people buy tapes is to copy music" was their argument then...and I seem to remember it nearly happened...
Presumably the same applies now...but wait a second - what about the CDs & Vinyl which I've bought multiple times because they developed faults (wore out?) I'm still listening to the same music, but lo & behold the artists (or more likely the record co.) have made more money by producing a lower standard product...
I approve of the recent suggestion that buying a CD will allow the owner to make an MP3 copy for their own use. It's a sensible and reasonable answer.
I don't approve of free copying over the InterWeb thing, but we have to be sensible.

Al taxem

Same suggestion was done in holland, and also in the european parliament if I recall correctly.
Of course it's to be expected those types are busy globally I guess., like 'al queda', it's not a strictly tightly coherent group but they are a loose affiliation of people with 'ideas'

Were all criminals

UK from a law which makes a criminal out of you every time you copy one of your own CDs to your mp3 player for some time now

Amazing!

ipod tax?

so not is it bad enough that we pay the Apple tax, now the apple + ipod tax?

Tax

We've had a tax on CD's and DVD's for years now in Belgium.

This is what killed the CD recorder.

After pressure from the record industry a levy was applied on the price of so-called Audio or Music recordable CD-R discs.

These are identical to data CD-R except for some code which identifies them to CD Recorder Decks.

Ironically, the decks are usually single speed machines quite unsuitable for copying albums.

The levy on Audio CD-R (and their low sales) means that such disks retail for 50p each (as opposed to 5 or 10p for data discs).

Ironically, the only people who own CD Recorders as far as I can tell are musicians who use them to record their own performances. The decks are usually single speed machines quite unsuitable for copying albums.

Everyone else just copies albums using computers and data discs.

So the only people paying a levy supposed to protect musicians -- are the musicians themselves !!!

So does this mean they will stop complaining about piracy?

The sheer stupidity of this proposal is the fact that even if they do apply this tax, they will still spend just as much time complaining about piracy, whilst semi-legitimising a certain level of piracy - after all, if you've paid a tax for having pirated music before you've even put any music on the player, then surely you're permitted to pirate some music?

They have had a tax on removal hard drives and storage media in France for a while now, and whenever they do surveys on piracy guess what people say? They say, I pay a tax on the drive for pirated music, so I'm going to pirate some music! Makes sense heh?

Smokes & Music

With the taxes on tobacco products to alleviate heath care cost just delayed the ending result where cost overruns caught up with the system.

Much the same with music and piracy, only the cancer that is forgotten is the years consumers trained their ears to good and quality music and being super selective in democratic lands. They blatantly refuse to bleed ears and wallet.

I should know, there is so little to pirate, so If ever I find a jewel (that I want and like), here take my buck.