“Cabinet ministers and Members of Parliament [MP] are putting up a vigorous defence against the New Democratic Party’s [NDP] move to have a levy applied to all new MP3 players, hard drives and laptops,” Ditchburn reports. “The money would theoretically go into a fund for Canadian music artists the same way as the current 29-cent levy on blank CDs and cassettes.”
“The proposal is New Democrat MP Charlie Angus’ private member’s bill,” Ditchburn reports. “It’s unclear whether such a tax measure would go far because legislation that involves financial changes must be supported by the government.”
“But that hasn’t stopped the Tories from mounting a full-on assault against the idea,” Ditchburn reports. “‘This is a very serious hit to consumers that could impact them, and if the NDP are as committed to raising taxes this week as they always have been, then this is a real threat,’ Heritage Minister James Moore said Wednesday.”
Ditchburn reports, “David Basskin, spokesman for the Canadian Private Copying Collective, says he’s disappointed the Tories aren’t seeing this as an issue of the property rights of businesspeople.”
“Moore says the government has injected much money into supporting artists since it came to power, including more for the Canadian Council for the Arts and the Canada Music Fund,” Ditchburn reports. “A new levy is just not on, he said. ‘It’s not in the interest of the music industry to make it more expensive to buy the devices on which they’re listening to Canadian content,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t serve the Canadian cultural community.'”
Full article here.
UPDATE: 9:11pm EDT: The measure appears has failed. Retail Council of Canada’s press released, verbatim:
Retail Council of Canada applauds Government of Canada’s refusal to extend blank media levy to other electronic devices
– Levy would put Canadian merchants at a competitive disadvantage –
OTTAWA, March 17 /CNW/ – Retail Council of Canada (RCC) commends Heritage Canada Minister James Moore and Industry Canada Minister Tony Clement for rejecting an NDP proposal to extend the blank media levy to other electronic devices such as iPods and similar digital audio recorders.
“Canadian retailers are encouraged that the levy will not be extended and believe this anti-competitive tax should be repealed altogether,” said Terrance Oakey, Vice President, Federal Government Relations, Retail Council of Canada. “To extend the levy would result in higher prices for Canadians, which would create a huge incentive for consumers to buy these devices online or in-person in the United States where no levy exists.”
Retailers contend the levy system is obsolete in an age of rapid technological change and that it does nothing to support and protect Canadian artists.
Retail Council of Canada calls for changes to the Copyright Act to provide an explicit exception recognizing that private copying for archival or backup purposes and for format shifting purposes by individuals of legitimately acquired copies of works or sound recordings and movies is legal. This should include private copying for such purposes as platform shifting, backup purposes, or the avoidance of obsolescence.
“Canadians should not be sued for large statutory damage awards for private, non-commercial copying, or asked to pay a levy for simply backing up purchased media on a blank CD or digital storage device” added Mr. Oakey.
Retail Council of Canada (RCC) has been the Voice of Retail in Canada since 1963. We speak for an industry that touches the daily lives of Canadians in every corner of the country – by providing jobs, career opportunities, and by investing in the communities we serve. RCC is a not-for-profit, industry-funded association representing more than 40,000 store fronts of all retail formats across Canada, including department, specialty, discount, and independent stores, and online merchants. RCC is a strong advocate for retailing in Canada and works with all levels of government and other stakeholders to support employment growth and career opportunities in retail, to promote and sustain retail investments in communities from coast-to-coast, and to enhance consumer choice and industry competitiveness. RCC also provides its members with a full range of services and programs including education.
Source: Retail Council of Canada
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Mike from Fernie” for the heads up.]
Commie b-stard!
Friggin NDP. I’m a Liberal, but the NDP are waaay too out there for really anyone’s taste.
What a joke, the money should not be coming from the everyday Cdn, It be comes from the industry, who ….should has been riding pretty high for many decades. NDP party go back to your overpriced taxpayer paid offices and think of something more meaningful. No wonder I don’t vote for the party. Good greef…..
Thank God for the Tories!
The Conservative Party has ALWAYS been the bulwark of freedom. The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada will NOT let you down. Goodness & decency shall prevail.
A Marxist is a Marxist no matter where they are. The US bunch are so far out of control it’s coming to a head. The US is fed up with Marxists!!!!!!!! Get them out in 2010 and 2012. Don’t let them destroy the constitution or change our immigration laws to gain new voters.
Cuckoo!
This is an annual event like our geese (both feathered and non) flying south for the winter.
Once again it has been rejected (Grits sided with the Tories) and retailers breathe, for this year, a sigh of relief.
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2010/17/c2702.html
*LTD writes, “Friggin NDP. I’m a Liberal, but the NDP are waaay too out there for really anyone’s taste.”
I envy our friends up north. I’m a McGill U graduate (from too many years ago) and only wish we had folks like Harper and your Conservatives in charge here. Unfortunately, we’ve got NDP type folk in charge of House, Senate and White House. If things fall apart here (as I fear they will) I hope you’ll have room for one more.
“If things fall apart here (as I fear they will) I hope you’ll have room for one more.”
Why take a chance? Why not go now? We won’t mind.
It failed ’cause Zune owners would have qualified for a massive tax credit.
Finally, someone else from McGill smart enough to use a Mac.
I was beginning to wonder.
@ Big Als MBP:
Yes, it’s a fact!
On the other hand, essentially everyone who graduated from Sir George is a Mac user!
Go figure…
[The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada will NOT let you down. Goodness & decency shall prevail.]
HaHA!
The last decent “progressive” conservative was Joe “Who” Clark. Harper ranks in the exact same douchebag category as Mulroney.
MW: business [Wow]
This is why the NDP’s have never won any election recently not even that much seats to impact the parliament. What now, their gonna add taxes on everything, this is a bad move for the NDP that might impact them for future elections. Conservatives ftw!!!!!
So the levy would permit people to copy all the digital content they want onto the media being levied right? If so, sign me up. Better yet, sign me up for the levy that let’s you kick a politician in the ass when they have assinine ideas without you going to jail. Yeah, I definatly like the ass kicking levy better.
Stupid bills like this are the reason why the NDP will never gain a federal majority in Canada.
They want to levy a tax on all media devices, regardless of how they are used? My iPod is full of ripped CDs and iTunes purchases, yet I have to pay a levy because the device may be used for illegal content? This is the most bass-ackward idea I’ve ever heard. Maybe I just use my iPod touch to store and view my documents on the go?
Kudos to the Conservatives for sticking to their guns on this one. You’ll have my vote next election; here’s to hoping for a majority.
–mAc
I’m a liberal, and I’d protest an Apple or internet tax, too!
Let’s not generalize politics, religion, etc.- unless you want to encourage a lot of yelling and screaming that is so attractively part of our culture now.
I generally support the NDP, but this is one of the dumbest moves they’ve made.
“The money would theoretically go into a fund for Canadian music artists the same way as the current 29-cent levy on blank CDs and cassettes.”
And then the money would “theoretically” be dispersed to all those starving recording artists …. a small technicality that’s been overlooked since the inception of the blank recording media levy well over a decade ago.
The levy of 29 cents is more than the cost of a single blank CD here in the UK. Converting to UK currency, that’s 18 pence for the levy vs 15 pence for a disk. No wonder our Canadian cousins are pissed off.
=:~)
@ron “Commie b-stard!”
What a loser…
Hey…am from McGill too. And I agree with the American comments here…let us send Harper and the conservatives down south :0)
Take that dumbass Obama up to Canada with you.
I have always felt that Mac owners tended to think for themselves and not parrot the IT-think when purchasing a computer. When I read what passes for political discourse on this page I feel sick. The lack of education and critical thinking is deplorable, especially in this day of instant information and fact checking.
I also used to think that Canadians hadn’t fallen into the “partisan pit” so common in America. Sadly it seems I am mistaken.
Dissenting voices are good. Both our countries were founded on these elements. This is real freedom. Not falling into some red-herring trap about medical care or bearing arms or corporatism
*sigh*