A day after his idea of a proposed tax on digital downloads made headlines and raised ire across the state, Gov. Quinn is backing down on that proposal but sticking to his guns for the income tax hike. It seems the iTax was just one of the more eye-catching of a long list of proposals Quinn was spitballing with legislative leaders. Said Quinn, "We had a meeting with the legislative leaders the other day, we made a list of all the possible things that could happen. I didn’t advocate that. I’m not interested in doing that, frankly.” Under the plan, a $9.99 album would have carried a tax of 50-cents while a $14.99 movie would have carried a tax of 75-cents. It seems paying an extra fifty cents per Nickelback record didn't appeal to him, either. more ›

Frankly, whenever we read about record sales, digital rights management, and record companies, we usually switch off because the whole issue is stupid and always ends up more complicated than it should (iTunes or iTunes Plus?). The major record labels have always reminded us of our Drunk Uncle Pete; they're late to the party and only after our money, while indie labels have been distributing DRM-free music through retailers like eMusic for a while now. more ›