TORONTO – Finally, some good news for RIM. Canada will introduce regulations this fall that will explicitly exclude microSD memory cards from a levy charged to consumers to compensate copyright holders.
"Our government is committed to building a strong and vibrant Canadian digital economy, the cornerstone of which must be the widespread adoption of cutting-edge digital technologies," says Industry Minister Christian Paradis. "Placing a new fee on devices with removable memory cards, such as BlackBerrys and smartphones, would increase costs for Canadian families and impact the adoption of the latest technologies."
In 2011, the Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) urged the Copyright Board to impose a tariff in the form of a "levy" on electronic memory cards. The intention was to collect levies on "the sale of blank audio recording media." But microSD cards are now used in a variety of popular devices not intended to record music, such as smartphones, digital cameras and GPS devices.
A new fee on microSD memory cards would have directly increased costs for consumers and would unfairly disadvantage Canadian products such as RIM's BlackBerry against their competitors added Paradis. The Minister argued it would also hamper growth and adoption at a “crucial time in the development of Canada's digital economy.”
Paradis maintains that the decision strikes the right balance in the Copyright Modernization Act by “ensuring artists are properly and fairly compensated for their work and preventing fees that would hinder Canadians' ability to adopt cutting-edge technologies.”
