July 12th, 2008Japan Scraps Proposed iPod Tax
Young people and tech-savvy buyers across Japan are breathing a sigh of relief as yet another proposed Digital Copyright Tax fails to make the grade. Consumers cheered and celebrated by running to the nearest electronics store to grab the latest Sony digital device or Apple iPod, proclaiming loudly that any attempt to tax them on digital media would be doomed to fail as governments cannot regulate what they neither control or understand.
Wait … that’s not right. This is Japan. People don’t pay attention to proposed taxes, un-clear regulatory practices, or “alternative sources for media”.
The legislation dubbed as the iPod Tax has been kicked around for years and would allow anywhere from 1-3% of a digital recording device go to recording companies, artists and song writers. Exactly who would get the lion’s share of the revenue, and how it would be distributed was not discussed, which likely means that the government wasn’t clear whether they should follow the same practices they have on the sale of blank CDs and DVDs, or create something “uniquely Japanese” to go along with just about everything else that happens in the House of Representatives.
Oddly enough, one of the reasons this tax failed was because the people responsible for putting the legislation together, the Agency for Cultural Affairs, could not come to an agreement with electronics manufacturers. They had hoped to put a tax only on portable digital music players, but the electronics manufacturers argued that more equipment could be added as a source for royalties. Older devices, such as MiniDisc players, DVD recorders and VCRs are already subject to copyright fees in this country.
It seems that politicians weren’t willing to add additional devices not because they were worried about the impact from consumers, who often don’t realize just how many taxes they’re paying on electronics equipment, but because they were completely unaware these other recording and playback machines existed.
Why This Tax Shouldn’t Be Implemented
To be completely honest, I’m surprised that the government even looked at implementing this tax. Sure, it was initiated and pushed for by the record industry but, in a country where everybody follows the rules, is it really necessary to put more taxes and paperwork into something?
I’ve asked over a hundred people in several prefectures from the ages of 15 to 65 whether they download music, software, movies or TV shows from the internet. A remarkable 97% of the people replied with “you can download movies and TV shows?”
Perhaps it’s just the people I talk to, but many of the individuals I’ve had the opportunity to discuss this topic with neither download music illegally, use P2P software, or use the internet for anything more than search, email and Mixi. To think that record labels need to be reimbursed for the miniscule amount of theft by taxing 100% of the population is more than a little crazy … it’s ludicrous.
Luckily the residents and visitors of Japan have been granted a small reprieve from the incessant taxation we’re subject to. If only we could do something about the Provisional Gas Tax.
What do you think of taxing digital players and recorders to “recover losses” by the various industries? Is this a realistic way to compensate artists, creators and companies?
Given the amount of people that acquire music illegally in that area, I think it’s a stupid idea. However, given the amount of people that “supposedly” download music illegally in the US, it might be something understandable to implement as long as the money really goes to the artists and whatnot and doesn’t just line the pockets of some politician, ceo, or agent. Just because I said it would be understandable though, doesn’t think I would like or agree with it or think it should happen!