Isle of Man could get unlimited music downloads

"We are not going to stop piracy, so let's embrace it"

21 January 2009 15:41 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

The Isle of Man's 80,000 residents could get a blanket license for unlimited music downloads.

The scheme, proposed at the Midem music market conference in Cannes, would see the island's residents paying a compulsory tax to internet service providers that would then see them sharing music legally.

Ron Berry, a representative of the Isle of Man government, is quoted as saying: "At the end of the day, we are not going to stop piracy, so let's embrace it".

The proposal is possible - depending on agreements being reached by the industry parties involved - as the Isle of Man is a self-governing British Crown dependency.

The record industry has greeted the suggestion favourably with Geoff Taylor, the CEO of the BPI saying: "If ISPs take the position advocated in the Isle of Man, we'd be in an enormously better position".

Full tags

Audio, Music downloads, Biz, BPI