Internet Piracy costs the UK music industry around £200 million per year but plans are already being drawn to get internet users to pay a Music license, similar to the way you pay for your annual TV license.
According to several news outlets, the UK government will be considering implementing a music fee (or tax as some would say) of up to 30 pounds for each internet connection - regardless of how many people actually use the broadband point - to compensate for any potential loss.
The Independent says that the artists themselves would be the main recipients of any tax collected.
The number of online legal music stores has increased over the last few years with Apple's iTunes monopolising nearly 70 percent of the market and although nearly 78 million singles and more than six million albums were downloaded from these outlets, this only represents a fraction of the music download pie as 95 percent of music downloaded on the net are illicit.
Still such a scheme would be difficult to implement - would businesses be included for example - and would target hard hit households some for whom a £30 annual bill could be the final financial straw.
Furthermore, based on the TV License example, one can expect the levy to increase annually at an inflation busting rate.
This could also potentially open the gates for more levies to be implemented; what about one for films, another one for games and yet another for illegally downloaded software?
According to several news outlets, the UK government will be considering implementing a music fee (or tax as some would say) of up to 30 pounds for each internet connection - regardless of how many people actually use the broadband point - to compensate for any potential loss.
The Independent says that the artists themselves would be the main recipients of any tax collected.
The number of online legal music stores has increased over the last few years with Apple's iTunes monopolising nearly 70 percent of the market and although nearly 78 million singles and more than six million albums were downloaded from these outlets, this only represents a fraction of the music download pie as 95 percent of music downloaded on the net are illicit.
Furthermore, based on the TV License example, one can expect the levy to increase annually at an inflation busting rate.
This could also potentially open the gates for more levies to be implemented; what about one for films, another one for games and yet another for illegally downloaded software?
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