The self-governing body located in the Irish Sea recently made headlines when its e-business adviser, Ron Berry, said the territory was considering adding a flat fee to its residents’ ISP fees to cover copyright fees for all content downloaded.

This isn’t the first time an all-you-can-eat ISP fee has been floated. While proponents often describe such a proposal as a sensible method to combat copyright piracy, detractors have spun the issue as an “ISP tax,” and say that people who don’t download copyrighted material or, for that matter, even own a computer will also have to pay.

The Isle of Man could act as a proving ground for such a system. The island’s population is 78,000, and the local government provides broadband services for the entire island. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better locale for experimenting with ISP fees in return for unlimited downloading.

“Anybody can go on to the Internet and access anything,” Berry said. “What we’re trying to do is legalize it and monetize it. Why would you bother to pirate anything if you could do it with the blessing of the rights holders?”

Berry also said the ISP charge would amount to about one euro ($1.30) per month. Not a bad price for downloading all the music in the world.

But some copyright owners aren’t all that thrilled with the Isle of Man’s intentions. Specifically, the British and European recording industries, which are among those spinning the concept as an ISP tax.

“A blanket file-sharing deal akin to a broadband tax imposed by government, as has been suggested, is not something we’d welcome – and is some way wide of the mark,” Britain’s main record industry lobbying group, The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), said in a statement.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) echoed the BPI. The organization said it supported unlimited music deals provided by cell phone companies, providers and ISPs, such as the Nokia “Comes With Music” model, but didn’t believe the Isle of Man’s proposal could be applied on a larger scale, despite it being “quite interesting from an academic point of view.”