Japanese government plans to tax iPods and other hard disk equipped portable players. The DVD recorders have already such a tax. The tax would probably be around 100yens (0.61€) A similar tentative failed in December 2005.
Many countries adopt similar strategy. Recently, French government planned to extend its copyright tax to iPhones (for about 7€). Obviously, each time, consumer electronics industry fight back.
This type of tax opens a gray area. For instance, is it legal then to rip DVD content for copy (even if it is not granted by studios)?