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News
Spain Moving Forward with iPod Tax on July 1
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 at 4:00 PM - by Jeff Gamet
Spain is set to launch a new tax on July 1 that the country claims will help deal with digital music piracy. The so called "iPod tax," or digital canon, will apply to devices capable of recording, copying, or storing audio or image data, including Apple’s popular iPod product line, according to Billboard.
The tax revenue collected will be earmarked to pay content creators for money they otherwise wouldn’t see because of private copying. Since the tax blankets a wide range of devices and anyone that purchases one, the assumption is that everyone is stealing music, and that assumption has many consumers in Spain upset.
The tax was delayed an extra 18 months while both sides debated the issue. Ultimately, Spain’s government decided to move forward with the tax.
Royalty collection organizations in Spain, like SGAE, Egeda and Cedro claim the tax is necessary to make sure that artists get the money they deserve.
Not everyone, however, is convinced. Victor Domingo, president of Internet User, thinks the new law will line the pockets of the collection groups. "Who will monitor SGAE and other collecting societies such as Egeda (audiovisual) and Cedro (publishers)? This money goes straight into their accounts," he said.
The tax will be collected from manufacturers for blank recordable CDs and DVDs, USB flash drives, multifunction laser printers, inkjet printers, scanners, cell phones with built-in MP3 players, and digital media players. Presumably product makers will pass those costs on to customers.
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