Seemingly in a prime display of “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em,” the European Commission has approved a French plan that will have the Carte Musique program give €25 (about $35) to people aged 12 to 25 to spend on music downloads. No, really.
The program will allow people ages 12 to 25 to purchase a card worth €50 for only €25, essentially allowing people to buy product-specific money for a smaller amount of money, a common practice nowadays with Xbox Live point cards, and various MMO point cards.
The point of the program is to help curb illegal downloads of music, an act which is generally associated more with people of a young age, which is why the program only applies to ages 12 to 25. Sorry, older people who illegally download music, you’re just going to have to continue breaking the law and saving more money than the younger people who choose to participate in the program.
Though the program is forward-thinking in that it understands modern times, understands the ease of illegally obtaining music, and attempts to provide a beneficial solution to consumers in order to help lessen the issue, the program as it stands only provides one of the discounted cards per person per year, essentially only providing people aged 12 to 25 a CD or two’s worth of savings each year.
The program is supposed to roll out in the next few weeks.
(Good Gear Guide via Slashdot)
