Tech News
Former music industry boss calls for British “iPod tax”
By Daryl Grove
May 17, 2005, 13:22 GMT

“If you get too cold, I’ll tax the heat / If you take a walk, I’ll tax your feet,” sang the Beatles on “Taxman” in 1966. Now they might have to add “If you listen to illegally downloaded music, I’ll tax your your digital media player.” Not as catchy, but that’s what’s going to happen if certain people in the U.K. music industry get their way.

The idea has been suggested following legislation in Holland for a point of sale surcharge on any device capable of storing illegally downloaded or “pirated” music. The recently passed Dutch legislation will become law within the next three months, with reports suggesting the levy could be around €3.28 per gigabyte. On Apple’s 60gb iPod that would add over €190 to the price. The levy would be paid to copyright holders, to compensate for profits lost to illegal filesharing.

Doug D’Arcy, the former head of Chrysalis and BMG, thinks Britain should follow suit. “The illegal digital download market is in danger of crippling the British music industry and unless something is done to address this quickly, it will spell disaster for thousands of artists and independent record labels,” he said to the Scottish Sunday Herald.

“We had an opportunity to introduce a levy on audio cassettes back in the 1970s and passed it up. That decision cost the business tens of millions, and to make the same mistake again could be fatal.”

Prospective British iPod buyers will be relieved to hear that the “iTax” faces little support from the music industries big guns. Sony and EMI have refused to add their support while the British Phonographic Industry has refused to comment.

The main objections are thought to be the assumption that all purchasers of mp3 players are planning to break copyright laws . Similarly, customers who buy tunes legally from stores like iTunes will be paying tax twice.

The biggest concern is that the tax may be self-defeating. It would effectively monetise and legitimise filesharing, at a time when the industry is doing all it can to demonise what it terms illegal downloads. Outside of Holland, the music industry may decide it’s more important to maintain the moral high ground than to pinch a few extra pounds.