A levy on MP3 players sold online in France, that compensates content rights holders for illegally copied material, has been upheld by a court there - meaning a standard iPod will continue costing as much as €40 more than it in neighbouring countries.

The so-called “iPod tax” must be paid by consumers when they buy an MP3 player from a foreign retailer. The Court of Cassation in Paris ruled in favour of French retailer RueDuCommerce which challenged the law after being angered by a foreign competitor not telling its customers about the charge. Because it is the consumer and not the retailer that pays the fee, the government may suggest the fee is paid once the goods have been bought, which doesn’t sound very workable. For French speakers, the ruling is here. From TheRegister.co.uk.

Cross-border price regulation has long been a problem and in January Apple reluctantly said it would lower its UK single track price from £0.79 to £0.67 (then the equivalent to €0.99, the European price rate) - but never did so, explaining it away in currency shifts. Back in April music industry chiefs asked for a similar copyright tax on MP3 players after the government suggested changing copyright law to decriminalise personal copying.

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