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Canada facing reinstated levy on digital audio players
It looks like Canada's neverending adventures in MP3 player levies has now turned another corner, with the Copyright Board of Canada recently releasing its decision on a series of motions that the Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) had been advocating for. Those proposals had been challenged by the Canadian Storage Media Alliance and the Retail Council of Canada but, according to lawyer/blogger Michael Geist, the Copyright Board appears to have clearly sided with the CPCC. What's more, the Copyright Board seems to be saying that the levy could not only be slapped on what they define as "digital audio recorders," but cellphones, computers, and other devices as well. Needless to say, the ruling will likely be appealed, so it doesn't seem like you have to worry about dropping a few extra loonies on your next iPod just yet.[Via Slashdot]
Swiss consumers facing tax on digital audio players
It looks like Switzerland is going down a road other countries have traveled before, with a Federal Court now confirming a tax on digital audio players and other devices that had originally been slated to go into effect in March of 2006. That date ended up being pushed back after complaints from various groups, some of whom deemed the tax to be too high while others thought it was too low, according to SwissInfo. The court apparently found the tax to be just right though, and it's now set to go into effect next month, tacking anywhere from $25 to $75 onto the price of various audio devices, including flash and hard drive-based digital music players, as well as other hard drive-based audio/video recorders. Seems like our gadget-happy Swiss friends just can't catch a break these days.[Thanks, Jonathan D]
