The big talk these days when it comes to internet downloading is music. In fact, it is what started this whole controversy on what exactly is right and wrong in all things “fair use” but little has been said about how other countries are dealing with this, at least when it comes to the normal media outlets. Other countries are coming up with interesting ways to handle this problem that have the probability of making it to our shores (United States for those that do not know where I’m from). In this week’s commentary article we are going to look at one of the alternative methods being applied to handle the piracy and “fair use” concepts and the pros and cons.The main idea that seems to have cropped up lately, especially in places like Canada and Europe is the idea of a tax on portable media players like the iPod and the Zune. What this basically means is that, when you purchase a personal media player you will actually pay a little bit more for the item then you normally would because there would be an additional tax on the product. This tax comes after sales tax and any other taxes that might apply to the purchased item.
This idea is popular with the content providers because they are guaranteed a piece of the pie on these devices. Plus, they can still sue customers into bankruptcy while collecting a tax implemented by the local government. Many customers probably do not even realize that they are paying this tax and therefore probably do not care one way or the other. The people that do realize that they are paying a tax on these items understand that they are being vilified by both the content providers and their government.
In theory though, the idea is a good one. By default you have to assume that there is zero chance of the content providers being able to find every single person who is breaking copyright “fair use” as well as anyone downloading content via a questionable method. Since you have to take that line of logic into consideration, it makes perfect sense to just assume that since you can not get just the guilty you have to then punish everyone. This is basic “the sins of the few” mentality at its best. Essentially, everyone one is punished because of a “few” bad apples.
Well, so if this idea is so wonderful why have we not done it here in the States? It has a lot to do with the fact that it is not such a wonderful idea. In fact it is completely ludicrous to consider asking people to pay a tax on what is basically a hard drive. I mean, by their logic regular hard drives that go into computers should fall under this tax. And do not be surprised if this idea is brought up. In the United States, we already pay a “tax” on blank cassettes and blank music CDs that is already added into the cost of these products because the recording industry claimed that these items are used to steal their product. I also think one of the reasons we have not seen the portable media player tax happen here is due to the fact that it in a small indemnifies the customers of these products. The RIAA and MPAA can not go around suing people because the tax is basically a way of them getting paid for it and really, the courts are not going to let them charge twice.
But I think the main reason we have yet to see this tax in the States is because it is dangerous to free business. If the content providers are getting paid via a tax then they are always getting paid. The need to innovate and come up with new and exciting music, movies, books, and other forms of media is removed. These companies would get paid for an inferior product regardless and as a result would not care one way or the other about what we bought. This concept has a chain reaction though, if the companies begin to release inferior products, the consumer will begin to stop purchasing that product. Because the consumer stops purchasing the product, their revenues begin to fall. As the revenues fall they will complain that the tax that is already levied on the customers is not enough to maintain their business and it needs to be raised. If they can make a compelling enough argument to have the tax raised, it will be raised. And do not full yourself into believing that it will ever go back down. Once they have it up, it will stay up and continue to rise over the years.
All these kinds of taxes do is criminalize law abiding citizens. They are ridiculous and should never, in my opinion, be brought up or to fruition.
Michael Koby 
DRM vs. Music Tax
The big talk these days when it comes to internet downloading is music. In fact, it is what started this whole controversy on what exactly is right and wrong in all things “fair use” but little has been said about how other countries are dealing with this, at least when it comes to the normal media outlets. Other countries are coming up with interesting ways to handle this problem that have the probability of making it to our shores (United States for those that do not know where I’m from). In this week’s commentary article we are going to look at one of the alternative methods being applied to handle the piracy and “fair use” concepts and the pros and cons.The main idea that seems to have cropped up lately, especially in places like Canada and Europe is the idea of a tax on portable media players like the iPod and the Zune. What this basically means is that, when you purchase a personal media player you will actually pay a little bit more for the item then you normally would because there would be an additional tax on the product. This tax comes after sales tax and any other taxes that might apply to the purchased item.
This idea is popular with the content providers because they are guaranteed a piece of the pie on these devices. Plus, they can still sue customers into bankruptcy while collecting a tax implemented by the local government. Many customers probably do not even realize that they are paying this tax and therefore probably do not care one way or the other. The people that do realize that they are paying a tax on these items understand that they are being vilified by both the content providers and their government.
In theory though, the idea is a good one. By default you have to assume that there is zero chance of the content providers being able to find every single person who is breaking copyright “fair use” as well as anyone downloading content via a questionable method. Since you have to take that line of logic into consideration, it makes perfect sense to just assume that since you can not get just the guilty you have to then punish everyone. This is basic “the sins of the few” mentality at its best. Essentially, everyone one is punished because of a “few” bad apples.
Well, so if this idea is so wonderful why have we not done it here in the States? It has a lot to do with the fact that it is not such a wonderful idea. In fact it is completely ludicrous to consider asking people to pay a tax on what is basically a hard drive. I mean, by their logic regular hard drives that go into computers should fall under this tax. And do not be surprised if this idea is brought up. In the United States, we already pay a “tax” on blank cassettes and blank music CDs that is already added into the cost of these products because the recording industry claimed that these items are used to steal their product. I also think one of the reasons we have not seen the portable media player tax happen here is due to the fact that it in a small indemnifies the customers of these products. The RIAA and MPAA can not go around suing people because the tax is basically a way of them getting paid for it and really, the courts are not going to let them charge twice.
But I think the main reason we have yet to see this tax in the States is because it is dangerous to free business. If the content providers are getting paid via a tax then they are always getting paid. The need to innovate and come up with new and exciting music, movies, books, and other forms of media is removed. These companies would get paid for an inferior product regardless and as a result would not care one way or the other about what we bought. This concept has a chain reaction though, if the companies begin to release inferior products, the consumer will begin to stop purchasing that product. Because the consumer stops purchasing the product, their revenues begin to fall. As the revenues fall they will complain that the tax that is already levied on the customers is not enough to maintain their business and it needs to be raised. If they can make a compelling enough argument to have the tax raised, it will be raised. And do not full yourself into believing that it will ever go back down. Once they have it up, it will stay up and continue to rise over the years.
All these kinds of taxes do is criminalize law abiding citizens. They are ridiculous and should never, in my opinion, be brought up or to fruition.
Share this:
Related