Minister proposes £20 broadband 'tax' to fight piracy

A new proposal will be put forward in parliament this lunchtime for the implementation of a £20 per year broadband tax to fight music and film piracy.

Lord Carter of Barnes, the regal-sounding Communications Minister, will propose the creation of a nationwide quango, during the unveiling of the Digital Britain Green Paper. Other topics will include the proposal to create jobs by boosting UK broadband take-up.

If the proposal is accepted, the agency behind Digital Britain will act as a broker between music and film companies and ISPs. It would also be given the power to provide data about serial pirate downloaders to music and film companies if they obtained a court order.

The news has been met with negative criticism, however. Many believe potentially imposing yet another tax on the UK consumer is not the right way to go about things. Jeremy Hunt, Shadow Culture Secretary, commented: “A new quango and additional taxes seem a bizarre way to stimulate investment in the digital economy. We have a communications regulator; why, when times are tough, should business have to fund another one?"

In similar news, last week, broadband customers based on the Isle of Man were also told that they could potentially have a compulsory tax imposed in exchange for unlimited legal music.