People Aren't Buying Blank CDs Any More, So Collection Agency Demands Media Levy Expanded To Mobile Phones

from the well,-if-you-bet-on-obsolete-technologies dept

We've always found the concept of blank media "levies" to be strange. They're a kind of "you must be a criminal" tax, that aims to shoehorn in an unworkable business model in a way that highly distorts an actual market. But, of course, then people become reliant on that distorted market as well. So I find it somewhat amusing to see an article pointing out that content creators in Sweden are now "losing out" on revenue from blank CD levies, because people no longer buy blank CDs and DVDs (who needs 'em any more?). The article, of course, was pushed by the organization that collects and distributes the levy, Copyswede, as part of its effort to expand the levy to internet connections and hard drives and such:

We don't currently receive any revenue from hard drives or telephones despite legislation decreeing that fees should apply to any products that are particularly suitable for piracy. The pattern we think we're seeing is one of piracy moving to external hard drives and USB flash drives while telephones are being used for storage...

And what makes you think you should automatically get free money from people using these technologies when the content creators you represent fail to adjust or adapt at all? But rather than adapt, Copyswede is just taking the position that more technologies should be taxed and the market should be distorted further. The plan is to tax mobile phones 100 kronor (about $14), because having the government step in and force people to give you money is, you know, a lot easier than actually having to work for a living.

Filed Under: blank media, levies, mobile phones, sweden