Petteri Pyyny
18 Jan 2003 13:38
Hilary Rosen, the chairman and CEO of the RIAA, told press in Cannes, France that ISPs (Internet service providers) should pay RIAA and other copyright organizations "taxes" because their users use P2P networks -- and therefor distribute and download illegal music, movies, etc.
"We will hold ISPs more accountable. [..] Let's face it. They know there's a lot of demand for broadband simply because of the availability (of file-sharing)," Rosen said. Rosen suggested that a fee or "royalty payments" have to be imposed on ISPs and they can then pass the fees to their customers.
Because it is virtually impossible for ISP's to monitor who uses P2P networks and who don't -- and who use P2P networks for legal purposes and who don't --, it would basically mean that all users would have to be charged for the "RIAA tax", whether they do anything illegal or not.
Source: News.com