Canadian iPod price drop after tax ruling
A recent federal court ruling means lower prices on
iPods in Canada. Expect to pay $25CDN less for a 20 or 40GB model, and $15CDN less for the 4GB iPod mini at
Canadian retailers Future Shop and Best Buy, or through the Apple store.
The ruling handed down by the Federal Court of Appeal of Canada says that the Copyright Board of Canada improperly
imposed a levy on digital media devices, beginning in December 2003. The price reduction is being immediately passed on
to consumers directly from Apple, who until now has been picking up the tab for the tax.
The original logic behind the levy was that making hard drive-based players easier to acquire would increase illegal
music sharing. Industry experts pretended to be worrying about ‘music artists’ losing royalties as a result. This
argument is completely spurious: if industry experts were so concerned about artist royalties, they could certainly
choose to pay them more reasonably. Plus, doesn’t acquiring a hard drive-based music player make it also likely to
increase *legal* music sharing, as well? Given that this ruling was handed down long before the advent of the
iTMS Canada, and during the birth of hysteria about
how digital downloads will ruin the music industry. Personally, I tend to think that it’s bad music that is ruining the
music industry. What do you all think?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
yPod said 3:49PM on 8-09-2005
Now what should I buy with my new found wealth...
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