ipod Tax Backer Pens Op-Ed Defending Measure

A Canadian politician who proposed a tax on digital media devices, in addition to amending the country’s Copyright Act, has written a blistering op-ed for The Star.

New Democratic Party (NDP) MP Charlie Angus previously admitted that the change he proposed to the Copyright Act—which would protect the “reasonable” use of copyrighted materials for “innovation, research and study”—was designed to stimulate conversation, and he begins his article by asking, “Is it possible in Canada to have a grown up conversation about copyright?”

Angus took umbrage with a Tweet from Conservative Heritage Minister James Moore, in which Moore wrote that, “I am against the NDP's new proposed tax on ipods… Consumers deserve lower, not higher taxes.” Angus wrote that, “Not surprisingly, Moore managed, in 140 characters or less, to define the issue of copyright as a dreaded socialist tax grab.”

Angus went on to lambast the whole government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, which he said, “exists in a nuance-free zone.” Angus wrote, “Regardless of the issue, they always come back with a few boilerplate responses: love the troops; get tough on crime; fight taxes.”

There are only two ways to protect artistic property, wrote Angus, “either you lock down and sue or you compensate.” The lockdown route is not particularly appealing to the MP; he cites the RIAA’s “outrageous” lawsuits against consumers, writing that the “The U.S. entertainment industry has long blurred the distinction between commercial counterfeiters and ordinary music fans,” which appears to leave only the compensation route as a viable alternative, at least in Angus' eyes.

Angus ends his piece with the following:

Kick-starting the conversation about the levy and fair dealing is one way of trying to get these issues of balance discussed. It's time to move beyond the rhetoric and begin to look at how we make this digital world succeed.