Got this via Google Alerts this morning. Seems the Dutch version of RIAA is going to propose a plan where ALL Dutch Internet subscribers will pay what amounts to $30 US each month for unlimited P2P music downloads. This fee would apply to EVERYONE. Even those who don't download music.
Think that dog would hunt in the United States?
No word on who will provide the digital files or who would guarantee the quality of these files but I can assure you that it won't be the recording industry.
They will sit back and collect monster fees from people who don't even download music and will do nothing at all to ensure people that do download that they are actually getting a quality product.
Under this plan, not only will the music suck in most cases, but so will the digital files and you won't have anyone to bitch to.
I don't buy $30 worth of music (I don't steal it either) each month because frankly the vast majority of music today SUCKS. On both Sirius and XM I find myself listening to the channels that play classic rock and blues.
I won't go for this and I would bet that one of the loopholes if this becomes reality would be business class subscribers would be exempt. Sign me right up. I would much rather pay my cable company the $100 or so for a business class account than pay $70 a month with $30 going to RIAA.
Here is the quote from the article that points out that the music industry looks at even their paying customers as thieves:
The license was suggested by the executive manager of the ISPI, Jesper Bay, in an interview titled "Pay fixed price for unlimited digital music." But the next day, he called for watermarking music files to prevent piracy.
They want to charge everyone $30 a month for unlimited downloads and watermark the files to prevent piracy. But if everyone is paying who is the pirate? The paying customers, that's who. Dutch people will seed these files because it's "legal" for them to do so. But who is downloading? The Dutch people will become the pirate because they will offer the files on P2P to people that aren't being fleeced by this music tax.
The Dutch people will shoulder the financial burden of all of the pirates in countries that don't adopt this model. The fee is as high as it is in hopes that the recording industry can get someone, anyone to compensate it for lost revenue from theft.
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