courtesy of slashdot...
short version: canada is considering a tax on devices which are capable of recording music in electronic format (e.g., ipods & other MP3 players) for the purposes of compensating artists whose music is "stolen" by filesharers but what this really means is that this tax is a pre-emptive assumption that consumers of these products are criminals and must be treated as such. long version here and here.
commentary: i seem to recall a similar tax being discussed on CD-Rs in canada few months back. i thought i blogged about it but that appears not to be the case. anybody else know anything about that?
ed
silverwhisper posted on Feb 12, 2007
| views: 451
Comments
-
BombShell said on Feb 12, 2007....
Does that mean they're going to legalize file sharing? Woo hoo! Free music in canada!<note sarcasm> -
lioneljay said on Feb 12, 2007....
In addition to the tacit assumption that all users of such devices steal music through file sharing apps, I found it interesting that so many Canadians reportedly were accepting of the idea of some kind of taxation on Ipods and electronic recording media for the purpose of compensating artists for their allegedly lost royalties. They definitely have a different attitude toward taxes up north than we have down here. Maybe it's because they get something useful in their lives (health care, anyone?) for their national taxes. -
husbandhater said on Feb 12, 2007....
Artists don't want their material stolen reduce the prices and make em resonable.I'm tired of Beyonce' and the bunch complaining poverty and they all live these ritzy lives.There making money somewhere(CD's are the smallest part of it.There's touring and all the extra perks of stardom like product endorsements) Here's the breakdown: CD's cost 25cent to make. Everything else is shipping costs and other nonsense that I won't get into just now. The artist only makes 5cents or more off of the sale of their album.Now we are paying 20$ per album with taxes and stuff. Some are 10-15$ on sale depending on the artist. The more popular the artist the more points you get on your album. So yes Janet might make an entire 1.00$ while Beyonce(2nd solo album 2-3 with Destiny's child might make 25cents. New artists make way less.Yes they are intitled to their chump change but they should also attempt to share their music and make it worth wanting.I'm tired of paying 20$ for 3 good songs and 7 fillers(crappy music that they know is crap). I could down load or buy a bootleg for that. They are all in this rush to stay current and don't relize its o.k. to be missed a bit. Take your time and develop a product thats going to be worth it and I'll be more than happy to shell out my money. But just like they work hard so do I and I want to enjoy what I spend my money on.
Canada can kiss a monkey. I don't need to steal, no one moves me that much in the current crop of musicians anyway. Very few and my hubby buys albums as soon as they come out without hearing them(which I've asked him to stop b/c he cries when they suck)so there is no need for me to clepto. Get alife Canada and let the artists solve their own problems. -
husbandhater said on Feb 12, 2007....
How do we even know its a canadian website anyway:) lol -
husbandhater said on Feb 12, 2007....
L.J I could use some of that healthcare. here here -
CreativeWoman said on Feb 12, 2007....
I don't know much about this. I don't even own an IPod or MP3 player. I'm so behind the times. lol I do have satellite radio though.
CW
-
raft said on Feb 12, 2007....
Yeah. Canada's solution is, when in doubt, tax it. Boy, that sure worked on cigarettes.
They have taxes on tapes (both 4 track and VCR), CD-R and DVD-R for that reason. I'd like to see which artist actually got a check from the government from the proceed of this tax.
Complete load of crap as usual.
-
sweetsoul said on Feb 12, 2007....
Don't know that it's so much that we're ok with taxes or that we think we're getting value for money...more that as Canadians we're not only inordinately polite (yes I do apologize when YOU bump into me) but we're also complacent. Generalization, of course...but that makes it generally true. -
hotaka said on Feb 13, 2007....
Tough subject. First, Canada will tax anything. I should know; I'm from there. What I would like to be sure is that tax money is actually going to the music industry and not to pay for $100 lunches and private jet flights to football games in Florida for politicians.
File sharing is they way of the world these days. Hey, they make machines that can do it and they sell them to the public so it's gonna happen. Gone are the days of holding a microphone to a speaker and recording your friend's Star Wars album onto cassette. I would say that the music world should learn to live with it and work with it. It's too late to turn back now.
One point a musician once mentioned - he said having someone ripping your music off the Net is not necessarily a bad thing. At least someone is interested in you and that might lead to ticket sales at concerts.
Bands aren't touring six months to promote an album and putting out two disks a year anymore. It's often two or three years between albums and lots of touring and promo work in between. They are making money more ways than one.
-
Col_Mustard said on Feb 13, 2007....
Ref: cigarettes (and booze too, for that matter).Sin taxes are always popular. It's an easy way for a government to make money without having to work for it. -
silverwhisper said on Feb 13, 2007....
god but the very idea of such a tax enrages me. assuming that all citizens are "thieves" (if you accept the MPAA & RIAA definition)? complete and utter lunacy, IMHO.
ed -
purrrkitten said on Feb 13, 2007....
What pisses me off most is that the taxes go to buy new furniture every year in every politician's office. And nice family vacations to the Bahama's. And fancy cars and nice houses and huge pensions after they've worked for a whole YEAR. And it seems that the policies made are geared towards the good of Ontario and Quebec and to hell with the rest of the country.
Yes, our health care is good but we have a huge shortage of doctors and nurses and rooms in hospitals. The funding has been cut in all sorts of places (ie. medical, schools, military) and the GST only pays $1 on the $7 (oh, excuse me $6) getting rid of our national debt. Alberta cut a bunch of stuff and we paid off our provincial debt within a few years. It was worth the scrimping and now we're even getting money back for that. Last year, everyone in our family got $400 back from the government.
It doesn't help that we send our lumber and oil down to you in the US at a low price and are then sold it back with TAXES on top! Why are we, expecially in Alberta the floating oil province, paying such ridiculous prices for gas?!?!?!
Whew. Sorry for the rant there, silver.... :-)
-
silverwhisper said on Feb 13, 2007....
hey, rants are fine by me, purr. :D
ed -
raft said on Feb 13, 2007....
Col Mustard: That's not the point. They are touting it as a deterrent. It isn't. The thing that's really working is the fact that they made it illegal to smoke anywhere that it actually working. Taxes don't work as a deterrent. Neither will it work for file sharing.
SW: Yeah, they assume that anyone buying a CD is pirating and not... making home movies.. or backing up their data.. or a multitude of other things. It's stupid.
-
silverwhisper said on Feb 13, 2007....
i'll go farther, raft, and say it's insulting.
ed -
carmachu said on Feb 14, 2007....
AS the old south park line goes:
"Fuck Canada"
This is stupid. compensate the artist? Excuse me? When you put out an album with one or 2 good songs out of a dozen or so tracks....and charge $20 or more for it, what, you expect us to buy it? Please.....
Take your tin cup elsewhere in your limo. We're not buying the rational or the album.
-
hotaka said on Feb 14, 2007....
I think Family Guy also said "Canada sucks." We'd actually have it pretty good up there if it weren't for the clowns that we have to chose to elect as leaders. How can we put the country back on its feet again. It seems it's just bad decisions all around.
raft - good point. I paid for all my cds but I still copy them to back up the files and make cds mixes for road trips. Should I be taxed to compensate the music industry for other people's "crimes?"
-
silverwhisper said on Feb 14, 2007....
carmachu: yeah, pretty much, dude. and i'd love to know how much they've paid out on the taxes for DVD-RWs and other stuff that they've already taxed.
ed -
carmachu said on Feb 14, 2007....
I'm VERY curious to see how they pay the artists the stuff taxed too....Ponzie scheme if you ask me. -
hotaka said on Feb 14, 2007....
I'll bet my lunch money that artists won't see a cent of it. -
raft said on Feb 15, 2007....
Of course not, it's to placate the music/movie industry. They probably see most of those returns and the artists see the "benefits" through enhanced marketing (that they are charged for in the first place), but what do I know? -
SnowCoot said on Feb 18, 2007....
I've spent a lot of time in Canada and have come into contact with Canadians in the US. Basically there are three Canada's. Anglo-Saxton, French, and huge communities of non-assimilating immigrants. The most popular comedians make their living ridiculing all things US. Canadians wish they were still under the rule of the English Monarch (where there is a TV Licence/Tax).
They insist on spelling things in the British way. Colour, Licence, and Harbour, for example.
Their FREE Medical services for all suck. Pardon my French. The doctors feel and act as though they are under paid, they go on strike, and any doctor that can pull it off migrates to the US. Canadians that can afford to seek treatment in the US, or pay a premium for private treatment in Canada.
Canadians celebrate when they come in second best.
Newfoundlanders have killed and chopped down every living thing. The US could learn a lot by their example.
They all have two, very well behaved dogs, of the same breed, they scuffle to see who holds open the door for others. There's more, so much more. The Newfoundland Retriever is a great dog. Too bad they haven't developed an apartment-sized version.
The scenery is spectacular though.
-
purrrkitten said on Feb 18, 2007....
Snow, I still wouldn't trade living here for living in the US. I love it here and I love my province. :-p -
SnowCoot said on Feb 19, 2007....
To Purrkitten
I apologize if you detected even a hint of negativity. We got totally involved in Canada. We learned Celsius and Meters, and I had signed up for Courtesy 101. We signed a year’s lease and bought Canadian Made furniture. We wanted to extend our stay in Halifax indefinitely. But they wouldn’t let us. I will never forget Tim Horton’s, Canadian Tire, & M&M. Truth be known though, I won’t miss Poutines or Canadian Chinese Food. What you see is a little "Sour Grapes." Great people, great country.
-
purrrkitten said on Feb 19, 2007....
Tis okay, snow! I know that everyone has different opinions. Even if I bitch about the way it's run, Canada is a great place. I do feel lucky to live here.
Ehehehehheh... I don't even know meters! At least, not very well! I grew up in the Vancouver area and things are constantly US-ised. I do feet and inches better than cm and meters. Half the time I still American-ise pronounciations for some words too. I've only been to Halifax once. It looked like a lovely place to live tho somewhat poor compared to where I was from, you know?
All in all, apology accepted and I apologize too for jumping at you. :-)
(((((snowcoot)))))) ~^^
-
hotaka said on Feb 20, 2007....
Snowcoot, being Canadian I had a good laugh at what you wrote. From that point of view it is sadly true but funny. We do learn to laugh at ourselves. As you said, we celebrate being second, or third, and when we come in first you'd better believe we remember it, at least for a week or two.
Yes, striking is the great Canadian passtime. Between suing in the U.S. and striking in Canada I think we got North America figured out: two ways to try and get more money. And if striking doesn't work in Canada we sell our raw materials, culture, talent and anything else we can find to the U.S. where they know how to make a profit better than we do - by selling it all back to us.
Still, I like it mostly. I will say that manners are generally better in Japan though.