opaqueice;200735 Wrote: > For example, a tax of some sort (on blank CDs for example) which went to > a fund to support artists and public art/music programs?
We have such a "wonderful" system in Canada. It's turned into another cash grab, but one of the original justifications for it was to compensate artists for the "inevitable" copying that would occur. Yet we still have this AND we also have DRM, the worst of both worlds. If the intentions around the blank media tarriff were factual, copying a CD would be entirely legal in Canada and DRM would be illegal (since it prevents the supposedly legal copying of a CD), but this isn't the case. Media companies conveniently skirt the issue and release CDs with the same protections as the American releases. Since many music releases can be obtained as downloads now, there's talk of extending the tax to blank hard drives. These would be taxed by the recording capacity. Could you imagine the extra cost added to a 500 GB drive if you consider how many 128 kbps MP3s could be fitted onto it? Insanity. Plus, of course, most of these downloads can't be copied anyway due to DRM. <bangs head against wall> Thankfully we don't have laws like the DMCA. Yet. I say "yet" because the RIAA and MPAA are extending their tentacles over the border. The MPAA, for example, has invented statistics showing that "most" pirated movies come from Canada, the Montreal area to be specific, and announced just yesterday that to punish us for our sins there will be no more advanced screenings in the country. This is more to put pressure on politicians to make our laws more in line with those of the U.S. One thing to be proud of though, about 6 months ago, several prominent Canadian musicians spoke out against DRM. Unfortunately nothing has become of it. -- Mark Lanctot ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mark Lanctot's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2071 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34928 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
