Manufacturers Urge Swiss Government To Rethink iPod Tax
A decision by the Swiss authorities to impose a tax on the sales of MP3 players
and other digital playback devices has caused uproar among manufacturers, who
are are seeking to challenge the new levy. The decision to introduce the new tariff for authors' rights was taken by a
federal arbitration commission on January 17, and it is due to come into effect
on March 1. According to Swissinfo, a coalition of MP3 sellers under the banner of the
Swiss Association for Information, Communications and Organization Technology
(Swico), which include the likes of Apple, maker of the ubiquitous iPod, have
written to the Swiss Federal Court asking for the to tax to be postponed for
60 days while they prepare a legal challenge to the tax. Under the measure, a four-gigabyte MP3 player with flash memory will attract
a tax of almost CHF19 (US$15), while that on a four-gigabyte iPod will be around
CHF2. A 400-gigabyte DVD recorder will incur an extra charge CHF138 charge.
It is thought that in some cases the taxes could add an extra 20 per cent to
the product price, and Swico is objecting to the way the tax structure discriminates
against devices with a solid state memory. They also argue that consumers are
effectively being charged three times for artists' rights. The new tax is expected to bring in around CHF2.5 million a year. .
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