Canada's CD Tax Out of Hand?

CRIA Watcher writes "The Canadian Copyright Board has just announced that it is bringing back the tax on blank CDs, called the private copying levy, in 2007. Michael Geist demonstrates how the tax has created a huge distortion in the retail price of blank media on his blog with as much as 70 percent of the purchase price now heading directly to the music industry."

In related news...

[TripMaster Monkey]

Sales of blank CDs in Detroit area soar! Details at eleven!

Canadian could always use...

[ColdCoffee]

...their Olympic gold medals [dvorak.org] for recording media!

ROTFLMAO

[l3v1]

70 percent of the purchase price now heading directly to the music industry

LOL, that sounds peculiar indeed, Canada's music industry now gets rich from blank media instead of music content :D Kiddin' of course, but still, it's hard to keep from [uneasy] smiling.

Trade for Prescription Drugs

[cpirate]

That is until their computer industry reveals reports that American blank CDs are not as safe as Canadian ones.

Use one problem to solve another

[dcavanaugh]

Maybe the Canadians can get their pharmacies to fill prescriptions for US customers and accept payment in blank CDs!

Re:ROTFLMAO

[Dystopian Rebel]

Canada's music industry now gets rich from blank media instead of music content

Obviously you do not appreciate the melodies of Avril Lavigne, the emotional maturity and unpretentiousness of Alanis Morrisette, the economy of expression of the Bare Naked Ladies, the understated phrasing of Céline Dion, or the raw production style of David Foster.

Tear off your ears, Sir! You are not using them, anyway.

You're paying to remove the songs.

[raehl]

People need to realize that blank CDs don't just grow on trees. In order to sell a blank CD, you have to take a regular CD and remove the content. It doesn't make sense to remove content people want, like software, so most blank CDs are originally Britney Spears or N'Sync CDs with the songs taken off. The music industry gets the money because only the music industry produces CDs with content so poor that it's worth paying a little to remove it and resell as a blank.