Ivory Tower Academics Call For Tax On Netflix To Subsidise Video Ezy And United Video

The Taxpayers’ Union is slamming a proposal from ivory tower academics to tax digital services to subsidise traditional news media, equating it to taxing Netflix to subsidise obsolete Video Ezy and United Video.

Commenting on the proposal, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“If producers of better and cheaper goods and services were forced to stump up cash every time they threatened an incumbent, we would still be using horse and cart to get around.

“The reality is that consumer preferences are changing, so the media must change with it. Some companies are already doing this successfully, and we should not artificially prop up those who are unable to compete and crowd potentially better content out from the market.

“The only positive from this is that there appears to be at least some recognition that Willie Jackson’s Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill would lead to the same chaos seen in Canada and Australia where the tech companies have pulled news content - or are planning to - from their sites completely. But now, any claim to a supposedly principled argument over intellectual property is gone and it’s clear this is nothing more than a shameless money grab.”

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