Ed Christman, “NARM Coverage: New Laws Threaten Used CD Market,” Billboard.biz, May 1, 2007.

… Florida and Utah have passed second-hand goods legislation, sometimes referred to as pawn-shop laws, that could make the buying and selling of used CDs much more onerous to stores and less attractive to customers looking to sell music they are no longer interested in owning.

In Florida, the new legislation requires all stores buying second-hand merchandise for resale to apply for a permit, would be required to thumb-print CD sellers and get a copy of their state-issued identity documents, such as a driver’s license. Furthermore, stores could only issue store credit — not pay cash — in exchange for traded CDs, and then would be required to hold them for a 30-day period, before re-selling them.

See also posts and discussion at Ars Technica, Idolator, Slashdot, and Wired’s Listening Post. The latter confirms that the law does not apply to sales of used CDs online.

(via Boing Boing)

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