Spanish consumers to pay anti-piracy tax on devices such as the iPod
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Jun 25, 2008 at 9:12am
Starting July 1, Spanish consumers will pay a special anti-piracy tax on all new gadgets capable of recording, copying or storing sound and images (such as the iPod), reports Billboard. The tax, known as the “digital canon”, arrives 18 months after its scheduled date following debates between collecting societies and gadget manufacturers.
The “digital canon” will be in force exactly one year before a scheduled revision. In that period, the tax collected must not be lower than €110.2 million ($171.9 million) or more than €117.8 million ($183.8 million). If it is higher or lower, the culture ministry must make necessary adjustments.
The controversial tax is imposed to compensate authors and creators from the money they lose due to private copying, according to collecting societies such as authors’ and publishers’ society SGAE. The government accepts this argument, but consumer groups, Internet users and gadget manufacturers say many consumers don’t use their gadgets to copy or record, notes Billboard.
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Contributor
Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
