Canadians already pay a tariff on media like CD-Rs. Now the Canadian performing rights organization SOCAN is looking for a slice of that sweet ISP pie. ISPs are squawking at the suggestion.

SOCAN is proposing that ISPs pay a royalty of 25 cents per subscriber per year as well as 10 per cent of any gross profit ISPs make through the sale of advertising.

"The tariffs are actually quite large," Mr. Perry said.

If adopted at that rate, SOCAN could receive several million dollars a year.

In 2002, SOCAN received a total of $32 million in royalties paid by Canadian radio stations which play music written by SOCAN's members.

Of course, no one's suggesting this tithe will get you into digital music heaven—it's not a licence to download freely, which makes this a timid measure. Somebody should step up and strike a new copyright bargain: here's my cash, now let me download until my clicking finger's sore.