--- From: Stewart Maiden <maidenat_private> To: "'declanat_private'" <declanat_private> Subject: Politech: proposed blank media levy in Australia Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 07:40:38 +1100 Declan, Australia's conservative (in all things but tax policy, where it is closer to tax-and-spend socialist) federal government has been slapping new taxes (called "levies") on us since it was elected in 1996. Now the entertainment content industry is calling for a NEW levy to offset the losses it alleges it is suffering as a result of digital technology: on blank media. It's not clear who the levy would be paid to. Fortunately, the Australian Consumers Authority has weighed into the debate seeking a bit of quid pro quo -- as a condition for the imposition of the levy, it seeks legislation protecting the right to copy for personal use, unable to be overridden by contract or licensing conditions, and authorisation for "circumvention devices" - the manufacture and sale of which are currently prohibited under the Copyright Act. The more things change, the more they stay the same - we had a similar debate in relation to audio / video tapes, from memory. Cheers Stewart ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/ Recent CNET News.com articles: http://news.search.com/search?q=declan -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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