You troublemaker, you

The Globe and Mail reports that for the past six months Canadian lawmakers have been hard at work over the formal definition of "iPod."

Its ultimate definition will determine whether digital music players, including the iPod, are liable for copyright levies ranging between $5 and $75 per device, depending on the number of songs they hold.

The last effort on record to conclude the matter was comprised of a 41-page document containing the Canadian Copyright Board's determination that iPods and other digital music recorders must pay levies, just as do blank CDs and DVDs, for the benefit of artists whose work may (or may not) be copied onto the devices.

The United States does not apply such levies, and a ruling over digital music recorders in Canada may have implications on other gadgets, like cell phones, which increasingly house digital music.

Retailers are calling the "levy" a "tax," but this too may be a mere matter of definition.