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Inside Kerry and Bush's Technology Agendas
wbren writes "PC Magazine has posted an interview on its website shedding some light on the two major candidates' policies regarding privacy, The Patriot Act, outsourcing, Internet sales taxes, broadband taxes and other important tech-related issues. PC Magazine calls it an interview, but John Kerry was the only candidate to actually respond directly to the questions asked. Bush's camp referred PC Magazine to George Bush's website to find the answers. The result: detailed and informative responses from Kerry, and many missing responses from the Bush campaign due to lack of information provided by Bush's website."
I assumed the '"multiple or discriminatory" taxes on electronic commerce' part addressed the specific Internet Sales tax issue.
From the article...
Kerry: I supported the Child Online Protection Act in 1998 which would have made it illegal for commercial Web sites to make available sexually explicit content that is harmful to minors unless they restrict access to adults by using a credit-card or adult-access code. The courts have blocked enforcement of this statute. They have argued that there may be other ways, such as Internet filtering software, to protect minors from inappropriate material while ensuring that legitimate speech is not chilled or punished. Whatever the courts eventually decide, our nation must act to make the Internet safer for children by protecting them from harmful material in a manner that is consistent with the First Amendment.
He's saying that he wants children as far removed from the "bad" stuff as possible but it's the courts that are causing the draconian censorship we see now since they refuse to force the implementation of a system that is opt-in for pr0n and etc. I can't agree with that more.
Direct away from face when opening.
If I understand correctly, the question is asking about how to write the tax code so that sales taxes cannot be charged...
That wouldn't be a question. That would be a position. The question (paraphrased) is "what is your position on taxes related to the Internet?" My paraphrase of Kerry's unclear answer, based on the IFTA which he cosponsored, is "I am against taxing broadband access and in favor of allowing states to charge sales tax (as long as only one state gets tax on each transaction)". So, he's against your position (as inferred from what you think the question meant to be) that there should be no sales tax on Internet commerce. His position appears to be the same as that of President Bush.
The IFTA was written back when the taxation situation was completely unclear and the protection against multiple taxation seemed important to many at the time. Specifically, they were trying to protect against attempts to have multiple states (the state where the business resides, the state where the server resides, the state from which the order was placed, the state to which the order was shipped) taxing a single transaction. It ought to be analagous to placing a phone order where there is a well-defined prioritization to choose the single state that gets to tax.
Do you think the federal government should be doing more to prevent or restrict the outsourcing of technical jobs to foreign countries? If so, what?
Do you think the federal government should have a role in expanding broadband usage? If so, what sort of role? How do you feel about tax credits for companies investing in research and development? What is your position on taxing Internet sales and service? What is your position on unauthorized online file-sharing? What is your position on COPA (Child Online Protection Act)? Should the federal government be doing more to stop and prevent spam, viruses, and worms? If so, what? How do you feel about the SPY Act and other antispyware legislation introduced in Congress last month? Do you think the federal Wiretap Act should be updated in the wake of the recent federal ruling that e-mail stored on a provider's server is not protected by this act? That's it. Now I have to do a "lameness filter" workaround: asdf asdf asdf ajj;l asduiui sadfu asdfkhj werjh asd weruusda suds asdf asdf asdf ajj;l asduiui sadfu asdfkhj werjh asd weruusda suds asdfasdf asdfasdf asdfasd asdf wrth wrht ad sfty ag adrgerg rth zdfg adrg erg asdrgrdg xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx hggk drgrth dgjtyj nygbs tukuy sdsd tyj srtgser srthsrth arur u7hr wtgwe gewgr sdthsrh rsthsfg wergewrg wrtyerty zdfgwer g 76u356y5 dsfgdrger ergerg rthsrth rth fsth tj sfhf sdbbves ardt serg rdtyrty sdgerg errtuyertyrety sergwseg rtyertyr wegwg rtyertyerty tfyiyfuiyu stgwrtgwrgw dfuerterty tynteyn k8 b qevevr ergesvd rsrsrstgfgdgdhht shgshshsg srtiudfgergiuy erguysefjghw drgriufguy fghuihbfguf guyerguyegjk ergjkherghjkrkhjerg fsgkhjrtkhjrgejhef gfuhgfuherguyeruergjkhefvjhehjk fgjhegrjghwghjw efjhgfehgw"Orthodoxy is unconsciousness" - Orwell