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Isle of Man to legalise unlimited downloads?
by Scott Gilbreath ~ January 20th, 2009
The little island with the funny three-legged flag has hitherto been popular as a tax haven, but it could soon attract visitors looking to download music from the internet.
Speaking at the MidemNet conference in Cannes, the Manx inward investment minister explained that the island has achieved 100% broadband penetration and now seeks that its citizens be able to download music with impunity – under an island-wide blanket licence.
[…]
The Isle of Man’s proposed scheme follows a similar model to legislation that was rejected by French parliament in 2006. Internet subscribers would pay an extra monthly fee to their ISPs, who would in turn purchase a blanket music licence from rights holders. Users would then be permitted to download whatever music they pleased, from whatever source – rogue P2P networks, shady BitTorrent trackers – without any legal repercussions.
The music industry has supported similar proposals elsewhere, but internet service providers wouldn’t appreciate being forced to raise their monthly fees and hand the proceeds over to music rights holders. Also, requiring non-downloading internet users to pay the fee is manifestly unfair. Nevertheless, the plan sounds like it’s almost a done deal.
The level of the fee is as yet unknown. Manx investment manager Ron Berry thinks it could be as low as €1 per month, but the plan nixed by the French parliament suggested a monthly fee of €8-€12.
h/t: AllMusic Blog
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