The House of Commons Canadian Heritage Committee adopted a motion calling on the government to implement an iPod Tax. The motion, put forward by the Bloc Quebecois and supported by all three opposition parties, was adopted by the House last April, despite opposition by our government.
The motion aims to expand the definition of "audio recording medium" to include devices with internal memory, allowing a levy on copying music to apply to this equipment.
This would result in the taxation of anything with a hard drive, including computers and cell phones. Some have even proposed adding the tax directly to consumers' monthly Internet bills.
If the opposition succeeded in introducing this tax, it would put a direct and unfair strain on Canadians' wallets, driving the costs of iPods, mp3 players and smart phones up by $25 to $75 dollars, depending on the amount of storage space. We cannot endorse this, as it would hurt our economy and punish consumers and families.
Instead, in this time of fragile economic recovery, we aim to send encouraging messages to consumers by supporting a market that sells goods for fair and affordable prices.
This is why we have chosen not to support an iPod Tax, but to introduce Bill C-32, the Copyright Modernization Act, to protect the rights of creators to control and profit from their works without penalizing consumers or limiting access to material.
Piracy is illegal and unacceptable and we believe in cracking down on those who use these devices to break the law and take advantage of the hard-working creators of the material being copied. The proposed legislation will more effectively target those at fault without taxing general consumers.
The past few decades have seen technology advancing at an unprecedented rate, allowing us to do things previously thought unimaginable with incredible convenience and ease. We believe in supporting Canadians as they continue to take advantage of these possibilities, rather than creating tax walls that keep these devices out of the hands of the general public.
Bill C-32 uses technology-neutral language to ensure its applicability and effectiveness well into the future as new, unimaginable technologies appear.
The key to effective copyright legislation is balance. We need to ensure creators of material are protected without restricting access to such materials. An iPod Tax would hurt consumers and producers by reducing the use of these devices, benefitting no one.
