This dosen’t have a lot to do with IT mainstream but it’s something that dosen’t sit well with me. While listening to BNN – the Business News Network today, I happened to over hear a conversation concerning a levy applied to ipods and other mp3 and media players as promoted by a few parties in the music business. They were represented by David Basskin, board of directors, Canadian Private Copying Collective. You can read more about the recommendation here: at the Arts Technica site. Are you aware that you pay a levy on recordable media – tape and cds and dvds – on the chance that you might use it to make copies of copyrighted materials? The same thinking goes into this so-called iPod tax. Since some people use it to break the law, we all have to pay!

What’s next…an accidental listening tax…er, I mean levy? If a car drives by with the windows open and the music blaring, and I accidently hear it, I’ll need to pay for it?

Dean Owen