Actually is was not the RIAA that came up with this gem, it certainly came from their Canadian counterpart the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA). If everyone is downloading illegal music, so the story goes, lets tax everyone $5 a month! In simple terms, everyone that has Internet access would now have an additional item on their monthly statement, a $5 piracy charge. Just like the Telco’s and Utilities love to add incomprehensible line items in the monthly bill, the net result will likely be a line item that reads ‘Privacy Assurance Plan’, and of course it will have nothing to do with your privacy.
Today brought another great idea from California (the land of fruits and nuts). Assemblyman Charles Calderon thinks that legally downloaded music and movies should also be taxed. One can only asume that Mr. Calderon is not going to be running for office again.
This is an asinine idea! A couple of weeks ago I found myself behind the 8-ball, a phone interview had been arraigned, the problem was that shipping DVD’s from Poland to Canada was proving more time consuming than had been considered. The solution was to transfer the music over the internet. So the question is, should I pay the tax? I am not asking for the item for monetary gain, I am a reviewer.
Bands like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have the solution. Give it away free, if you like the music, you will buy it. And even if you don’t like it, at least you have heard it.
As Forest Gump says ‘Stupid is, as stupid does’.
I find it embarrassing having to talk to my friends in other parts of the world. I’m the guy that is the ‘big time’ reviewer, and I have to deal with idiocy like this?
The RIAA’s of the world need to get their acts together. And my advice is to start building the Ark! There are a number of interesting lawsuits wending their way through the court systems. The RIAA has issued over 20,000 threats. And many people have caved in, the going rate is $3000, and you send a letter to the RIAA promising that you will not do it again.
I have followed this story for a long time, the RIAA, and their Canadian cousins seem very reticent to talk about this. The question I, and many others have is “What do you actually do for the artistâ€? And maybe the really big question, the one that I have never seen answered, “so how much of the $3000 settlement makes it to the musician?†I am not the first to ask this question, and I am sure that I will not be the last. They certainly don’t want to talk to me, and they seem reticent to discuss this in public.
The really important lawsuit is about to enter the ‘discovery’ phase, for once, the RIAA is going to have to explain the workings of their less than legal partners MediaSentry. Several states have already declared their operation illegal, I can’t wait to see what happens in court.
Simon Barrett
2 users commented in " Download Tax? Another Great Idea From The RIAA Think Tank "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackI’m heading up a local chapter to Fair Copyright For Canada, which was the design of the head of the organization Dr. Michael Geist:
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/
The $5 tax proposal wasn’t the CRIA’s Idea, it originated with the Songwriters Association of Canada, to which the CRIA shot down several times calling it a “snowball’s chance in hell” of ever happening.
http://www.nationalpost.com/arts/story.html?id=327870
I find it very interesting that the RIAA is thinking seriously about this, and that the CRIA here in Canada have been very much against this idea, along with the our ISP’s, Media and the public.
We’ve debated this in our group back in November when we first heard about this proposal that originated here in Canada. Just to give you some views on it.
1) Not everyone uses the internet to download on P2P.
2) The “tax” will need to apply to not just music, but everything else found on P2P, like films, books, software etc. So that $5 could turn into $30 – $40 when all parties involved are brought to the tables.
Sounds like a good proposal, but was completely shot down by everyone here in Canada. At least it does bring those to the table on how to make money off of P2P channels, and I think that’s what the Songwriters were trying to do here. They don’t want to hurt fans anymore. They want solutions, and it amazes me that those that claim to be representing the recording industry (at least here in Canada with the CRIA) are quite clearly not representing the interests of the creators. Hopefully one day, our cousins down south will stop for a second and realize the same with the RIAA. They simply do not represent the recording industry as a whole, nor represent creators interests.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/02272008/business/infringement__99428.htm
Jason
I think that Senator Calderon is just another idiot like most Dumb-crats. Raise taxes is all they know. We are over taxed as is.
Did he forget that this is America?
If he doesn’t like it here, go Home.
My God! Who in the Hell voted this idiot into the Senate?
Another thing: I bet he is also along with that global warming nut Al Gore.
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