Israel looks to legalize all music torrenting...in effort to combat music torrenting?

Many have proposed that the United States could cut back crime rates, as well as turning a profit, if it were to just legalize marijuana. No more drug dealers (for that herb at least) selling or committing other crimes in the midst of selling. Taxation and regulation generating income for the state. It's a little idealistic, but might be worth a shot. Israel is taking a similar approach to music pirating.

A new piece of legislation introduced in the country suggests that going after those who download music, films or television illegally doesn't help to curb the problem, due to the extreme rates at which the crime is committed. Instead, those who upload the files in bulk should be the targets, as to cut off illegal downloading at the source. The hypothetical law would make it entirely legal for you to pirate music online.

"The balance of this law is that it would add a tax to manufacturers and importers of equipment used for making copies of disks," read an article in The Jewish Press.

Those taxes would compensate the industries who might see a loss in business due to the wholesale legality of pirating and torrenting. The base idea of letting downloaders be seems like a good one, although it seems unfair to punish those who produce CD burners. Israel wouldn't be the first nation to enact such legislation however. It seems to be working fine in the Netherlands (we know some of you wanted to call it a bad idea just because Israel was responsible. The legalization of marijuana seems to work okay for them as well).

The legislation was introduced in the Knesset, a branch of the Israeli Legislative Branch, by Meir Shitreet, and it reportedly has the support of AKUM, the primary music-rights organization in Israel.