Ottawa split on 'iPod tax'

OTTAWA (CUP) — Is the iPod tax just another packaged political phrase of 2010, or is it a real expense consumers may soon have to face?

According to radio ads released by the federal Conservative Party in mid-December, it's "a brandnew tax that will have you paying up to $75 more for iPods, smartphones, personal video recorders, MP3 players and just about anything with a hard drive."

The ads have Canadians wondering if the tax even exists yet and where it came from.

According to Industry Canada, the iPod tax idea stems from the levy on audio cassettes, CDs and other blank audio recording media that currently exists and was set in 1997 by the Copyright Board of Canada. Proceeds collected from the levy are disbursed to members of the Canadian Private Copying Collective, a group that represents recording artists and music publishers across the country.

The CPCC has requested the legislation be extended to include MP3 players and other storage devices on multiple occasions since 2003.

Last March, NDP MP Charlie Angus brought the issue back to Parliament Hill when he presented a private members' bill that proposed having the tariff legally applied to MP3 players and other storage devices.

The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage soon after adopted a motion — supported by Liberal, NDP and Bloc Quebecois committee members, as well as Conservative chair Gary Schellenberger — that called on the government to extend the existing levy to digital music recorders in an attempt to compensate music creators.

The committee's recommendation was presented to the House of Commons in April 2010, and was passed with the support of all three opposition parties.

Meanwhile, MPs are still working on Bill C-32, the copyright reform legislation originally introduced by the Conservative government in June 2010.

But Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in Internet and ecommerce law and professor at the University of Ottawa, emphasized the difference between the two similar, yet separate issues.

"The proposal is not part of Bill C-32 and seems unlikely to be included," he said in an email. "The Conservatives and the Liberals have both stated their opposition to it."

No new decisions on the iPod tax and related copyright reform have been made as Parliament remains on hiatus for the holidays. The House of Commons will reconvene on January 31.

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