Canadians Say Please Tax Our Blank CDs Even More
from the does-that-make-sense? dept
It's quite common to see surveys released by various groups to support whatever position they have on things, but in almost every case, if you dig deeper into the actual survey questions, you find that they're heavily biased in the way they're worded. Often this means leading questions, or using "loaded" words to make people answer the way they want to. When it becomes really dangerous is when these types of misleading surveys as a basis for making or changing laws. Everyone should realize they have little to no validity -- but they're often taken as representative. Take, for example, the news coming out of Canada that Canadians have no problem with being charged extra for blank CDs as a way of compensating the music industry for the potential. Actually, it's not just that they have no problem with it. The study found that many people believe they pay too little, and they'd happily pay more. It should immediately make you wonder what's going on with a study when the results suggest people aren't just happy about being taxed, but that they think it would be grand if they were taxed even more.Michael Geist points out just a few of the problems in the actual survey -- such as noting the price of the levy, but not putting that into context of how much of the sale price it represents. He notes it also doesn't ask important questions about how much private copying of music people actually do. If the levy is supposed to pay for such uses, you would think that would be at the top of the list of any such survey -- unless those conducting it are afraid of what they might find out. If you look at the wording of the actual survey questions, they are certainly loaded... bringing up such things as whether or not people feel artists should be compensated for their music. Of course people feel the artists should be compensated -- but that doesn't mean that a blank CD levy is the best way to do so. What becomes clear as you read through the survey is that they ask these questions in a vacuum -- as if there were no other way to compensate artists, and then ask people about whether they think the various dollar amounts are fair. It should be clear to anyone reading the actual survey that there are still plenty of questions about how Canadians really feel about a blank CD levy -- but it's unclear if the decision-makers will bother to notice that.
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Surveys
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Yeah
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Levy vs Downloading
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crooks I say
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loaded words..
A few years ago a study was done to see how easy it was to skew a jury's view of evidence and testimony. They used 2 groups, both were shown the exact same car accident on video. The first group was asked "how fast was the first car going when it hit the second car" and the second group was asked "how fast was the first car going when it smashed into the second car". The second group always rated the speed 10-20 mph faster than the first group.
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Is their such a thing as an unbiased survey?
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Re:
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Re: 51% of income?
In many cases, the amount of one's income which goes to pay taxes and medical coverage is a LOT less when compared to our nearest lowest-bidder-wins neighbour.
But please, keep toeing that line; it keeps you crazies out.
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Re: Re: 51% of income?
Try understanding some economics, and you'd understand that the inputs to the finished products got taxes, the inputs to those inputs got taxed, and everything down the line gets taxed. "embedded" taxes, so to speak.
Instead of being condescending, you could try to alleviate your ignorance, unless that's asking too much. Yes, Canadians probably do in the end give at least half of every earned dollar to the government, directly or indirectly.
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Re:
*CHUCKLE*
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va chier
need I say more?
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Re: JFR
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Tax me more!
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There are other uses for blank CDs
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Bacon and taxes
As far as taxes go... well there's our lovely Goods and Services Tax (the hated GST) and then there is provincial taxes (generally between 7%-9%). That amount gets removed on our "taxable" income. Of course, we get taxed again when we spend the money, so I guess it equals to over 30% give or take.
As far as the levy goes - I can't do anything about it. A 50pc spool of DVD's generally goes for about $24.00 CAD, plus tax, and last time I worked it out there was 7 cents on every DVD for the levy. Do I want a higher levy? No. Will I continue to buy DVD's/CD's for "archival" purposes? Sure I will. Just about every game, application, movie, and ALL my mp3's are backed up to DVD.
Does it surprise me the government, the PIAA, and everyone else wants a piece of the pie? No. Some things you just have to except.
w1nX
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where you can easily go to other places and get them for $10-$20
so, its only the people who feel guilty by downloading (legally in canada), that will actually pay for this levy
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Bacon and taxes
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Re: Ripped off
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Total BS
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morons
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Post 19
*shouted*
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Money for artists?
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taxes = criminal extortion
http://www.jonathangullible.com/mmedia/PhilosophyOfLiberty-english_music.swf
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Re: taxes = criminal extortion
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Canadians are dumb
I am often dissappointed when I here stuff like this, because it just steels my believe that Canadians are nothing but passive agressive wimps that will complain and bitch bout pollitics, but do little to change the status quo.
We just don't get politically motivated the way other countries do. Our Liberal government for 13 years basically stole from taxpayers and are corrupt con artists, yet year after year we voted them back in because, well, we don't like changes and didn't feel like wasting our time wondering how the other guys will do. In the last 2 electincs, we voted in minority governments.
So when Canadians say things like, we are paying too little tax on something, I just shake my head and want to cry out "Grow a freaking backbone people!". The government rips of off, and Canadians say sorry, want some more?
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SOCAN and the levy
The short answer is you'll probably spend more on the postage stamp to mail in the form.
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LOL at socialized medicine
Personally, I'll gladly pay for the superior US medical treatment.
As do most Canadians who can afford it.
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Re: LOL at socialized medicine
http://www.angelfire.com/az/sthurston/Leading_Cause_of_Death_in_the_US.html
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Re: LOL at socialized medicine
http://www.angelfire.com/az/sthurston/Leading_Cause_of_Death_in_the_US.html
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Re: LOL at socialized medicine
$10,000.00 for a hip replacement or maybe $50,000.00 for a triple bypass.
Or maybe electroshock to get you back into the real world.
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CD's?
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This is why.....
There's a lot more reasons, but this is a good enough one to just leave out in the open for people to think about. Glad I'll never go back to that toilet of a country, if you actually call that place a country.
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bear in mind...
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post 29
*sigh*
and just where do YOU live in the US?
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Re:
Nor one that is fueled solely by fear.
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Techdirt once again brings out the lowest common d
Please, children, other people read your drivel and may actually start believing it as well.
51% income tax? What idiocy. Socialism? Canada is as socialist as the US is fascist.
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Re: Techdirt once again brings out the lowest comm
Canada pretty socialist, eh!
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LCD...
Hey don't forget... Canada invaded and went to war with the US once (and won) -- but then again they don't teach that in the US.
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Canadian's Tax On CD
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Conservative
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Re: Conservative
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Bla Bla Bla...
This is a BIG bulshit! Waste of time!!
Talk seriously, people: a smart(and non-serious) group that had a luminous idea of share the bill with all who buy a CD or DVD, despite will be used to music or not...
They definetively thinks we are all stupid.
Open your EYES - thay are putting the velvet, long and silent fingers in your wallets!!!
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Re: Bla Bla Bla...
I'm not sure, but I think you've just hindered your own cause.
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Re: Re: Bla Bla Bla...
US education sucks... unless Daddy has a deep wallet
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Manifest Destiny
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Bacon_(film)
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Ops !! No!!
I don't think anyone must seriously accept to pay a tax in advance for something that could, or not, will be used for the purpose of the tax was created for.
Nothing against the artists or someone else.
Cheers~
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Why would anyone want this?
Many people put backups, photographs and home videos or other material onto these CDs and such material should NOT draw a levy.
What will they come up with next: a levy to pay when you buy a car for any speeding violations you may or may not incur when you drive? How about alcohol tax on water, which you may or may not brew into beer or wine? It all makes about as much logical sense as the CD levy.
I write as a person living in Finland which also has such a levy. It IS anti-freedom. All taxation is extortion and governments of ALL forms have repeatedly been shown to make extremely poor financial managers.
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Re: Why would anyone want this?
the only choices we have is not to buy therm, or pay the included levy fees
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Re: Re: Why would anyone want this?
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Buying Online
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I work at a store that does not include it in the
Yes thats right folks, since 2k1 when it started and our store decided to charge it seperatley from the price to show consumers what they are paying for, I have heard most likely thousands upon thousands of complaints.
I think the most common complaint is this
Customer "Uh, I see that the price is 20 so dollars, I thought the cd's were 9.49 for a ten pack?"
me "Yea the canadian government charges a levy.. "
I then point to the screen where it shows a 10.50$ charge
"on every cd so that canadian music artists can get some money back from the 'apparent' songs that we steal"
Customer "But I'm using these strictly for the office, that means photos and documents.."
me "Unfortunatley everyone pays the levy, regardless what they use the cd's for"
So yes, people pay the levy whether they are stealing music or not.
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Bla Bla Bla...
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Re:
Brilliant! Most well articulated, educated comment I've seen all day!
Compare PPP GDP per capita between the US and Canada first to correct your own arrogance, then compare the astounding history of growth in capitalist nations such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and the like along with a liberalizing (in a capitalist sense, not the american sense where liberal=socialist), then compare other historic and projected growth rates between super-socialist France and Germany, then YOU, sir, sit your arrogant, but now more educated, ass down.
People say Americans are arrogant, but I swear to god, the most truly arrogant, condescending and rude people I've ever met are all foreigners. We're content with pointing to simple macro-econ concepts that factually, mathematically prove socialism to be inefficient and leave it at that, the rest of the world tries to brow-beat and whine about imperialism. (Speaking of which, Europe appeased its way in to failure in WW2, doing it again with terrorism, and the failure of the French to grow a sack and send real troops to Lebanon, along with the UN's demands on Israel to essentially bend over and drop its pants, proves this beyond all doubt)
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Re: Re:
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Wrong war...
All taxing CDs will do is limit their use even more.
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What's the problem
If the recording industry doesn't pay the artists thier fair share of said levi then they should get thier act together and sue for it.
Music shouldn't be free - The artists have to make a living just as much as I do. I pay then for the music everytime I buy a blank cd though.
Also there is talk about expanding the tax to all blank media to cover mp3 players
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Canadians Say Please Tax Our Blank CDs Even More
I've been a computer tech for almost 10 years and have had the chance to pose this question to many of my customers, and they were most certainly NOT for a hike in this levy. The company that did this survey was most likely compensated for the results they came up with, becasue Canadians already get the shaft from being taxed six ways from sunday, and we really don't need or want another tax of ANY kind.
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Canadians Say Please Tax Our Blank CDs Even More
I've been a computer tech for almost 10 years and have had the chance to pose this question to many of my customers, and they were most certainly NOT for a hike in this levy. The company that did this survey was most likely compensated for the results they came up with, becasue Canadians already get the shaft from being taxed six ways from sunday, and we really don't need or want another tax of ANY kind.
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?? - Bacon is good
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The simple fact is that the avg. public can get tricked into almost anything. This is what Mike was talking about, these surveys are tricky and "everyone should realize they have little to no validity".
And Stan (27) good for you, you can pay for medical treatment, give yourself a pat on the back and stfu it clearly has nothing to do with you then.
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Amused
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Harddisk prices are plummeting, and it's just a tad bit more expensive (over here) to just buy a harddisk and an enclosure, than buying a huge amount of cd's. And then I didn't even talk about the portability of the harddisk in comparison with the cd's, and the durability of a cd.
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Well, lets do the math...
Every other country on earth thinks Americans are arrogant, ignorant cowboys that are full of their own flag waving shit. The only one that don't are well, Americans. 5 and half billion people can't be wrong. Pull your head out of your ass and have a seat jerk off.
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