Harebrained scheme
I can’t recall having seen such an idiotic idea for a long time:
Internet users could face an annual charge of up to £30 to download music, under plans to be unveiled today that aim to tackle illegal file-sharing.Can you imagine anyone who can download unlimited music from the internet buying CDs as well? We buy most of our music from iTunes these days and only buy CDs rarely – and only if they are priced below the iTunes price of 9.99 Euro per album. Instead of supporting the music industry, this proposal will decimate it.[British] Ministers are backing proposals that would enable millions of broadband users to pay an annual levy which would allow them to copy as much – previously illegal – music from the internet as they wanted. The money raised would be channelled back to the rights-holders, with artists responsible for the most popular songs receiving a bigger slice of the cash.
Where can I sign up? And when can I subscribe to unlimited film downloads too?
Update (2008-07-24 21:20 hrs):
Reading the BBC web site this evening, it seems the newspapers misreported the plans this morning:
Mr Taylor [of the British Phonographic Industry] said newspaper reports stating that online users could be subject to an annual levy to cover losses from file-sharing were incorrect.Which is a pity, but does show that the industry hasn’t lost it’s marbles completely!