“Producers and distributors of MP3 players and iPods have challenged the introduction of a new tax on digital music players, due to come into force on March 1,” swissinfo reports. “They have written to the Federal Court asking for a postponement so they can contest the new tariffs for authors’ rights, which they claim are ‘astronomically high.’ The tax will affect three different product categories: digital music players with flash memory (MP3s); hard drive-based music players (iPods); and audio/video recorders with a built-in hard drive. The decision to introduce the new tax was taken by a federal arbitration commission on January 17, responding to a demand by a group of collecting societies including Suisa, the organisation responsible for administering music rights. But the tariffs were only announced last week, which led to the uproar.”
“Spearheading the opposition is the Swiss Association for Information, Communications and Organization Technology (Swico), which has asked for a postponement of 60 days to prepare its case. Swico, whose 400 members include Apple, IBM and Sony, is also unhappy with what it calls “discrimination” between players with flash memory and those with a hard drive. The tax on a four-gigabyte MP3 player with flash memory will be almost SFr19 ($15), while that on a four-gigabyte iPod will be around SFr2. A 400-gigabyte DVD recorder will incur an extra SFr138 charge,” swissinfo reports. “Suisa, which represents the interests of over 20,000 composers, writers and music publishers in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, estimates that the new tax will bring in around SFr2.5 million a year.”
Full article here.
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Japan junks ‘iPod tax’ idea – December 01, 2005
Greed, greed and more greed.
Europe’s socialist gangsters flex the muscles between their ears.
Sorry to hear that folks….
but the ones that really suffer are the swiss people… us!! not Apple.
But what the heck! Germany is just around the Corner, 5 min by bike, France maybe 4 min!!!! whats the point????
i think its just ridiculous since we are the country with one of the most mac- customers! you wouldnt believe how many people have Ipods and Macs in switzerland!!!!!!!
still… rock on Steve.. greedy bastards in Bern!!!
So, it Sony Record Co. fighting Sony mp3 maker? Sounds like taxing yourself.
Everyone wants a piece of you when you’re successful.
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http://www.g-zus.net
Or, shock of shocks, artists and creatives actually want to be compensated . . . Ohhh, myyyyyyy!!!
The horror . . . the horror . . .
Even in the US there are levies applied to blank CDs and blank tape and cassettes for the sole purpose of reimbursing the artists for users copying. So how do you figure that since we already paid for the privilege that they can still want more when you actually do?
the question is, how much, if ANY, of that tax money will GO to the “creatives”?
boycott the swiss until they squeal
All the manufacturers should stop shipping or start delaying shipments of ALL electronic equipt into the country until their citizens get pissed off
this is one way to get around the ‘I want a piece of your iPod sales’
“…Or, shock of shocks, artists and creatives actually want to be compensated . . . Ohhh, myyyyyyy!!!…”
Yes, the “creatives” are that special class of people who are so brilliant when it comes to producing art, but unbelievably moronic when it comes time to sell it. They bleat and wail about how they’re not fully compensated, and conveniently forget that they actually signed the contracts under which they perform.
Let’s all shed a tear and pay a tax for the struggling “artist”, and let’s all forget about the producers, promoters, manufacturers, distributors, and hell, truck drivers, factory workers, etc., etc., etc… that work so hard to bring the latest forgettable act to your teenager’s doorstep.
I’m sure the guy who cleans the sh*t stains out of the executive toilet at the studio feels under-compensated and wants a special tax, too…
That tax is nothing if you are free to record anything that is broadcast or on cable or found on the internet.
10% tax on your devices and free movies, TV and music for life.
After all, the creatives have already been paid.
If there is a fine placed on all media for recording then downloading P2P is legal.
Works for Canadians.
the mp3 makers should just pull out of switzerland period.
they should not spend a penny on lawyers and court, just pull out and sell them in other european countries.
“let them eat swiss cheese”
We had this stupidity but it was finally defeated in court. Hopefully the Swiss have the sense to do the same.