EU moves digicam goalposts

EU OFFICIALS have voted to change the way that digital cameras are taxed within member states, opening up the possibility of a price hike on popular consumer models.

Currently, digital cameras come into the EU free from any import tariffs, but digital video cameras are subject to tax starting at 4.9 per cent. Since many digital cameras now have video capabilities, the EU has voted to levy a tax on those, too.

To be taxed as a digital video camera, a camera has to be able to record at least 30 minutes of continuous video at 800x600. Anything below that capability and it can avoid tax.

This isn't the first time the EU has started to levy charges on increasingly ubiquitous technology. The recent spate of large flat-panel monitors being sold without DVI connectors was caused by a ruling that such digital inputs were subject to an additional tax - causing lower-quality products to flood the market.

It seems likely that digital camera manufacturers will have to play the same 'avoid being too good' game, quite possibly by creating a separate European firmware for their products which limits recording to 29 minutes, or so - leaving our US cousins with a better product, probably for a lower price. Thank goodness for Brussels, eh? µ

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Eurocrats decide cameras are video recorders