Aiming to compensate copyright owners for the lost royalties from private copying of music, movies and images, most EU Member States impose levies on the price of copying equipment, such as scanners or cassettes. The UK is a notable exception.
The European Information and Communications Trade Association (EICTA), whose members include Microsoft, Fujitsu, Alcatel, Nokia and Siemens, believes that this is not the best method of protecting copyright.
In a letter sent to the European Commission, the group recommends that technological measures would be a better solution.
According to the EICTA's web site, "the extension of copyright levies to digital devices and media is harmful to European consumers, creators and industry. Levies increase the price of products such as personal computers, consumer electronics devices and storage media which permit Europeans to be full participants in a dynamic information society."
The group also points out that more expensive equipment would mean fewer consumers with access to the information society. This, the EICTA claims, would result in "an ever-widening knowledge gap between Europe and her trading partners."
The EICTA also argues that levies to compensate copyright owners are unfair because private copying is, according to the group, not piracy.
Finally, it recommends that: "technical protection measures and digital rights management systems provide superior means to compensate artists for use of their work when copying is actually done and requires compensation."
More information on the issue is available from:
www.eicta.org