The Hague blocks Dutch gov't attempt to levy MP3 sales

The Dutch equivalent of the RIAA lost its bid to put a tax on MP3 players Tuesday, as The Hague said it would not remove a government block on any further taxes.

Norma had sought to have a ban on further taxes on MP3 players lifted, however the courts said it had not seen enough evidence that the group was managing an already existing tax on blank CDs and DVDs.

The group obviously disagreed with the court's position, saying that it had used old statistics which indicated the rights group had a considerable backlog in processing the CD/DVD tax.

Additionally, Norma legal executive Marnix Langeveld added that technology had advanced beyond the disc, saying more people were using DVD and MP3 players to copy content directly to a hard disk.

Rights holders and industry members currently are given the responsibility to set the levies, however the courts can jump in if there are any issues. The Dutch government has also indicated that it would like to rework the whole system before next year, according to published reports.