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States Fight Internet Tax Ban, Cite VoIP Concern
PetiePooo writes "From an article at PCWorld: The Multistate Tax Commission is fighting a bill which makes the moratorium on internet taxes permanent. Their complaint is that it could be interpreted to include VoIP telephony such as Packet8 and Vonage, and they would lose that lucrative tax base as people switch from incumbent providers. The House has already approved the bill. When will the politicians figure out that VoIP is a going to end up as a product, not a service? Voice will be just another form of data. Here's another related article."
When our (the US) government isn't backed by the money of the lobbyers that want to manipulate and again, is backed by the common voice of the people.
--
"I'm not bright. Big words confuse me. But Wanda loves me and that should be enough for you." - Cosmo
Actually, voice telecomm data is digital--it's digitized at 8kHz, I believe, rather close the to local loop for transmission across the backbone. This allows for virtual circuits and all that.
That's why it's impossible to connect at more than 53.3kps with an analog modem--any higher speeds would be rendered unintelligible by the compression.
I'm much to tired to call you an uninformed dipshit.
Instead I'll just direct you here, here, and here. Oh, and a Google search of "Bush Administration", deficit, and "federal spending" might enlighten you a tad, also.
Have a wonderful day.
El riesgo vive siempre!
Utilities such as telephones are taxed by several levels of government, not just the states. The shift of the telephone service to a permanently untaxable form will have a corresponding multi-level effect. Here in Fairfax County, VA we really get soaked - 22% levied against local service - see Fairfax County Tax Rates for details.
Take the bigger picture. This matter is really one of revenue shaping. It takes so many dollars to run the governments (that we hope are acting for the common good). They can get tax revenue from many places. The government sets various tax levels on different goods and services, and by so doing decides which industries and activities it wishes to encourage by giving them a break. This principle is applied at all levels of government. Losing the telephone tax base is not the end of the world - governments will increase the revenue stream elsewhere. Income, personal property, and real estate are perennial favorites here in the US.
That said, Congress should think carefully before reducing the choices that subordinate government levels have.
English -- gotta love it! / The engineers refuse to refuse the rocket until the refuse is removed from the launch pad.
http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/20030211
"Federal funding is nearly equal to the amount raised by general state taxes. In 2003, New Hampshire received $1,058,104,021 in federal funds, 26.83 percent of the $3,944,374,848 in total appropriations. Some agency or division budgets are more than 50 percent dependent on federal sources, but New Hampshire is not alone in its reliance on Washington, D.C. The national average is 26 percent, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities."
http://www.lsj.com/news/local/030210_budget_1a-6a
"U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, said the tax cut is the reason Michigan won't get more. "The president's fiscal year 2004 budget request contains misplaced domestic and economic priorities," Levin said. He called Bush's tax cut "a huge deficit creator" that "makes it impossible as a result to assist states like Michigan." Some state budgets are in their worst fiscal crises since World War II."
http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/4/008402-6
"For more than 25 years, the federal government has mandated special programs for students with disabilities, but it never has kept its promise to cover nearly half the cost. As a result, Indiana has been forced to pay millions of dollars each year to meet the federal requirements."
"The federal government should pay Indiana $2,622 for each student in special education -- $420.4 million total. This year, Indiana received only about $171 million -- a contribution that falls about $250 million short of the 40 percent promise. To make up for the loss, the state spent $371 million, and districts spent countless classroom dollars."
Before you state the obvious (one of the sources quoted is a Democrat, another article notes that the federal funding problem has been going on for 25 years) I should point out that this is not an anti-Bush post. I'm just trying to clarify that, yes, the federal budget (and deficit) does affect the state budgets.
"BSD: Free as in speech. Linux: Free as in beer. Windows 10: Free as in herpes." --Man On Pink Corner in #52607549.
That doesn't work, since one company normally provides the line, while several different companies attempt to provide the service. The company providing the line would get really pissed, since they're not the ones that have any control over usage.
Just because my T1 circuit goes through SBC doesn't mean I'm not getting the service itself from another company.
tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
This explains the difference from baud and bit:u nicati ons/bitsbaud.html
h tml
http://www.totse.com/en/technology/telecomm
And this explains how phase and level can combine to form a pattern of bits:
http://www.airlinx.com/details/QAMAirlinx.
There is also some printed material I have that talks about modem "chirping". Basicly, the only interesting part of a wave is the peak or trough. Someone came up with a technique that allows you to send the part of the wave just before and after the peak or trough. This allows faster transmission by not waiting for the carrier to complete a cycle.
I'd rather you do it wrong, than for me to have to do it at all.
Grab stats from your router every night and calculate bits sent/received and multiply by the cost per bit.
I mean...really....
Blar.