Tax on Email ?

[foxymoonheart]

Found on Digg:
"The era of tax-free e-mail, Internet shopping and broadband connections could end this fall, if recent proposals in the U.S.Congress prove successful."
Click here for the full article.

And for those who missed a recent post:
"The future of Internet radio is in immediate danger.  Royalty rates for webcasters have been drastically

Comments

[waya_sion]

hmmmm: without reading the refered link, first thing that I immagined:

Email-Stamp act (where you are billed a few cents for each email scent, basically as a tax for using such a service)

I know it won't happen LOL

I already know how net stations are in danger: they have too much power in our government, so it's going to remain an issue for a while. I can also see it eventually spread to things like Secondlife, and private broadcasting as well.

your webcasting will likely mostly dissapear, or be artists webcasting their own material.

I'm sure down the road they'll also go after sites such as youtube.com since those who upload to it often use licenced music.

FCC wants it so the only one's who play music to the public are the radio stations, cause they make money off those radio stations.

[sockscatt]

I don't believe it's going to happen.

Taxing e-mails would mean that the USA stretches it's bounds further than they're ready to do so. They can't even keep weefle-hackers out and they can't stop people from torrenting movies. Do they really think they'll be able to tack a tax on e-mails?

And last I checked, a lot of broadband providers charge tax on services. And I pay tax on things I buy from companies online. Seems like a mostly non-issue there.

And webcasting radio stations... That's RIAA basically throwing a fit that they couldn't stop people from filesharing so they're getting their pound of flesh out of who they can, companies with something to take. They're gonna lock down their own music, and kill it basically.

The revolution will not be televised.

[schnee]

It doesn't seem like anyone is actually proposing a tax on emails, though - the only one who's even mentioning that is invoking it as the horrible spectre lurking at the end of a slippery slope, so I think you'll be safe in that regard for quite a while. *smiles softly

[whitetail]

Yep, the Democrats control Congress now. Thanks a bunch, American voters.

It wasn't Congress, at Least Not this One

[lutrian]

Actually the internet radio fee hike came from a ruling from the Copyright Royalty Board, not congress. If congress originally passed any kind of law which gave the CRB this authority, it would have been around 2003-2004, around the time the first internet radio fees were implemented.

[wolfbeast]

Well, it's like always: if some office can make money out of hard working people in the community by making sules or enforcing stuff while sitting on their ass, they will not pass up that opportunity :P

I'm glad I have my own e-mail domain to serve my own e-mail, and they'd better not try to charge me taxes over what I choose to run on my own damn machine in my home ;-) BTW: if you or a friend ever need a free, spam-filtered and ad-free e-mail address, just drop me a line and I'll set one up :)

Broadband internet (and any similar service) has been taxed for a long time here already. I still don't agree with VAT on a service though, there is no added value to services since they are not goods. But, you get to live with it... :P