
The Music Tax: Details Of The Plan They Don’t Want You To Know - paulsb
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/28/the-music-tax-details-of-the-plan-they-dont-want-you-to-know/
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noonespecial
Is it just me or is every one else as tired of stories about the RIAA and "big
music" as I am? They've now become (and have been) completely irrelevant to
me. I don't like/buy/care about their product. The threat of a lawsuit even
though I don't download music has faded into the background threat matrix of
my life like an unfair IRS audit or eminent domain taking my house.

IF they do succeed in this tax, its just one more tax by a quasi-government
agency for stuff I don't use, for people I don't know. There's already 5
others just like it on my Sprint bill as it is now. They're gonna do what
they're gonna do and I have little influence in any of it. Unjust? Probably
but I have more pressing things to worry about.

I know there are likely some people in this group who care deeply about
fighting the injustice behind this, but I for one would rather RIAA nonsense
be left to the Diggs and Slashdots of the world and focus on startups and
hacking with this group.

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dbreunig
First off, this affects us. This proposed tax is voluntary for ISPs, not
consumers. The ISPs are paying this money as protection to the RIAA, so they
won't sue. This fee is then handed down to the ever growing list of fees to
subscribers. This additional charge for bandwidth and the implications for
music-based start-ups is very real and relevant.

That being said, I too am tired of the RIAA. So, apparently, are their
artists: [http://consumerist.com/368663/riaa-pockets-filesharing-
settl...](http://consumerist.com/368663/riaa-pockets-filesharing-settlement-
money-doesnt-pay-artists-whose-copyrights-were-infringed)

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wmf
Didn't the DMCA already exempt ISPs from liability?

The music tax could be a double whammy for ISPs, because not only would they
have to pay the tax but their bandwidth costs would likely increase due to
increased usage of P2P.

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dejb
If the money actually went to the artists I'd be happy to pay a $5 a month
tax. But somehow I don't think this is how that scheme would work out.

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fallentimes
The big-label music industry is truly unbelievable. Just when you think their
bad ideas can't be topped, they come up with this.

They need to take a cue from what the Nine Inch Nails did (and the success
they witnessed) with the release Ghosts I-IV: <http://tinyurl.com/2u9wzk>

