The Canada Private Copyright Collective, which represents various Canadian music companies and organisations, is trying again to push for the so called 'iPod tax' to be introduced in the country.
This system, already adopted in some European countries, would mean a levy would be charged on any digital music player sold, in the same way levies are charged in both Canada and those European countries on recording media such as CDRs and cassettes. The money raised through the levy is passed back to the artist and content owning communities as compensation for the fact that consumers use those media or devices to make additional copies of those content owners' music, albeit only for their own private use (the levies do not legitimise content sharing online or otherwise).
The CPCC first pushed for a levy on digital music players back in 2003, but at the time the courts ruled against the proposal, and in favour of retail groups who oppose the levy, arguing that Canadian copyright laws could not be interpreted so to include digital music players, hard drives or memory sticks in the levy system. But the CPCC argue that those devices are in themselves 'recorded media', so should be included even though they are not specifically identified by the levy system laws.
If successful, the CPCC is suggesting levies be charged according to the capacity of a digital music device, with CAN$5 for 1GB players, CAN $25 for 10GB players, CAN $50 for between 10GB and 30GB and CAN $75 for any device holding more than 30GB.
As previously reported, the iPod tax already operating in some European countries is not without controversy either, with some in the electronics sector lobbying European Commission officials to ban such levy systems in EU member states, though the Commission has delayed making a ruling on the levies one way or another, seemingly to placate the French authorities who favour the system.