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Canadian MP Introduces $75(?) iPod Tax
Charlie Angus proposes amendments to the Copyright Act that “will ensure that artists are getting paid for their work, and that consumers aren’t criminalized for moving their legally-obtained music from one format to another.” The so-called “iPod tax” is resurfacing in Canada with news that New Democratic Party MP Charlie Angus has introduced a a pair of proposals to amend the country’s Copyright Act. One would extend the Private Copying Levy, first established back in 1997, to portable media players like iPods. Specifically, C-499 says the tax will cover any “device that contains a permanently embedded data storage medium, including solid state or hard disk, designed, manufactured and advertised for the purpose of copying sound recordings, excluding any prescribed kind of recording device.” This would finally give consumers some much needed control over legally purchased products while simultaneously opening up a new revenue stream for artists in the downloading age.
Continue reading »UK MPs Blast “Extraordinary Lobbying” to Quickly Enact “3-Strikes”
Several members of the House of Lords criticize “extraordinary degree of lobbying” by copyright holders to get “three-strikes” legislation passed as quickly as possible, but the MPs warn it’ll only mean years of trying to the fix “deficiencies of the present bill.” The UK govt’s controversial plans to disconnect file-sharers from the Internet is coming under increasing fire from members of the House of Lords, due in part, it seems, to claims of a concerted effort by copyright holders to hurry the Digital Economy Bill’s passage into law. Lord Puttnam is one of the critics, angry that some would even consider hurrying to enact such sweeping legislation without proper debate, and notes that a poorly written bill will just mean they’ll wind up having to revisit the “deficiencies of the present bill” in the future. “What will end up leaving this chamber… and going to the Commons is a bill that none of us is particularly proud of,” said Lord Puttnam.
Continue reading »Pirate Bay’s Peter Sunde Starts Money Sharing Site
Computers and the Internet have made it extremely easy for anyone to produce content, and distribute it to millions of users. Musicians and movie makers can share their work with the rest of the world with very little investment, something that was impossible little over a decade ago. Similarly, weblogs are able to provide news and information much faster than old media at relatively low costs.
Continue reading »Oscar Pirates, Fewer Films Leak Online This Year
Waxy’s Andy Baio has been collecting detailed piracy stats for every Oscar-nominated movie since 2003. Much to the delight of the MPAA, his most recent statistics show that, compared to previous years, fewer Oscar nominees have leaked online. The statistics for all 2010 nominees , except documentary and foreign films, show that 27 of the 34 films were available on BitTorrent in DVD quality last night.
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