Legalize File Sharing
Eddie Schwartz,
The Mark,
Apr 19, 2010
Eddie Schwartz, president of the Songwriters' Association of Canada, wants to legalize file sharing. To pay for the music, he recommends a voluntary surcharge to internet access provider rates. It's easy to find flaws in his proposal - most importantly, the raft of other types of content providers who would want their own fees - but if we exchanged these fees for what we currently pay for music, news, books and all other content, both producers and consumers may well end up well ahead. That said, I don't really disagree with the proposal, if it can be set up fairly. We pay a levy on some blank media now in Canada, and it has bought us our current freedom to record and download whatever we like. And the whole "no gatekeepers" think would be a boon to new artists and writers (or even old but unpopular ones, like me).
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