Download away!

Canada Taxing MP3 Players, But Says Downloading Songs Is Legal Canada has decided that since MP3 players are often used to play files that were downloaded off the internet without permission, they should be taxed. Therefore, MP3 players are about to get more expensive, depending on how big their hard drives are. If I lived in Canada, I'd demand a refund. If I'm not downloading unauthorized files, then why should I be forced to pay for them? In fact, if people are paying for unauthorized files, won't this make them more likely to go download a few songs? Shouldn't they get something for their money? This lets the industry sit back and collect the tax fees rather than working to actually provide something of value to customers that they're willing to pay for. Update: While that first article focuses on the tax, over at News.com they're pointing out that the ruling also states very clearly that downloading songs from file sharing networks is legal. Uploading them is illegal, but downloading is fine.

[via Techdirt]