Dutch plans for iPod tax

[Cemetric]

An anonymous reader writes "The Register is reporting that in a few short months a proposal to tax all MP3 players in the Netherlands will become law. The levy taxes 3.28 euros ($4.30 US) for every gigabyte of capacity. This means a 60GB iPod Photo will be hit for an additional 196 euros ($258), all of it going to the record industry's copyright collection agencies. And they call file sharers thieves?"

I hope this is just for the Netherlands and doesn't cross the borders ... I think this is Outrageous though ...I hope they don't push this proposal tax ...

I actually think they wont do that ... the devices would get even more expensive then they allready are ..who would still buy them???

Original story : here and more info here

Or the Dutch could just become a nation without iPods. I wonder how happy that would make them?

.. I wonder how happy this would make Apple instead.

What's the world comming to

C.

[Striek]

Wouldn't have much effect in Holland anyway. People would just go to Germany or Belgium to buy the stuff, thus crippling the industry in Holland.

There's already a tax on blank audio tapes anyway - it goes to the RIAA (or some similar organization). It was implemented for the same reasons. Not many people complained about that. I don't think it's quite so ridiculously high, though.

While I don't object to the concept in principle, since distributors are losing a lot of money to this and it would hopefully provide them with the funds to find a new form of distribution, this tax rate is just ludicrous.

[Cemetric]

Wouldn't have much effect in Holland anyway. People would just go to Germany or Belgium to buy the stuff, thus crippling the industry in Holland.

That's true ... people are very well prepared of travelling a little (or a lot) if they can save a lot of money on a product.

But still ... "If" they would pass this law ... the people that are legit with their music (not downloaded illegaly), meaning they have their own CD's and copied the songs to the iPod.. The tax would , in my opinion, not be fair because they allready paid for the CD.

But as you stated

this tax rate is just ludicrous

C.