“Spanish consumers will from July 1 pay a special anti-piracy tax on all new gadgets capable of recording, copying or storing sound and images,” Howell Llewellyn reports for Billboard.
“The tax, known as the ‘digital canon,’ arrives 18 months after its scheduled date following sometimes-angry debate between collecting societies and gadget manufacturers,” Llewellyn reports.
“The list of taxes was published without warning in the Official State Bulleting (BOE) on June 19. There are a few minor changes to an initial ‘digital canon’ list agreed by the industry and culture ministries and published in January. For example, mobile phones with integrated MP3 music devices will be subject to a €1.10 tax ($1.7) instead of the original €1.50 ($2.35),” Llewellyn reports.
“The ‘digital canon’ will be in force exactly one year before a scheduled revision. In that period, the tax collected must not be lower than €110.2 million ($171.9 million) or more than €117.8 million ($183.8 million). If it is higher or lower, the culture ministry must make necessary adjustments,” Llewellyn reports.
“The list of “digital taxes” includes €0.60 per CD recorder (same as the initial list); €3.40 per CD/DVD recorder (48.5% less); €3.15 per MP3 (a new tax); €0.17 per CD-R (22.7% less); €0.22 per CD-RW (same); €0.44 per DVD-R (26.6% less); €0.60 per DVD-RW (same); €0.30 per USB-Flash (new); €10 per multifunctional laser printer (33.3% less); €7.95 ink cartridge printer (47% less); €9 per scanner (same),” Llewellyn reports.
More in the full article here.
[Attribution: MacNN. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Judge Bork” for the heads up.]
I gotta pile on @X. What does Barack Obama have to do with this story?
@La Perfida Espana:
Which Spain are you talking about when you refer to it as a “once progressive country”? The time of Franco????? I mean, who was there before this monarchy? That must be the time you are referring to.
Simply being a Kingdom does not make it non-progressive. Nor would simply being a republic make it progressive. Some of the most progressive countries in the world by any measure are monarchies or constitutional monarchies (i.e., Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Canada, Australia, Japan, and yes, Spain). Your thinking is just plain flawed.