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US House Passes Permanent Ban On Internet Access Taxes
jfruh writes: In 1998, the U.S. Congress passed a law that temporarily banned all taxes imposed by federal, state, and local governments on Internet access and Internet-only services, a ban that has been faithfully renewed every year since. Now the U.S. House has passed a passed a permanent version of the ban, which also applies to several states that had passed Internet taxes before 1998 and were grandfathered in under the temporary law. The Senate must pass the bill as well by November 1 or the temporary ban will lapse.
Could they tack a rider onto that sucker mandating out-the-door advertised prices while they're at it?
They'll never pass up an opportunity to squeeze more money to fund pet projects back home. Hell, they're already talking about tapping the untouched potential of my 401(k).
Because the ISPs can't be the only one to fuck over the consumer, the government wants to get some of that action too.
This means no public internet, it will forever now be a private enterprise. Not sure I like that possibility in the long run given how the ISP monopolies behave.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
has passed a passed a
Without reading the details.. I doubt this will pass, if its democrat sponsered, the repubs will shut it down in the house. If it's GOP approved, the senate will kill it. Gotta love our divided country!
This is a law. Like all laws, it is automatically superseded by any later laws passed.
This "permanent" ban is valid only until Congress passes a law allowing (or mandating) a tax on internet access, and is automatically voided by such a law.
In other words, this is a waste of time, and it doesn't matter in the slightest if this dies in the Senate, is vetoed by the President, or just burned in effigy....
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
The bill says that your internet bill won't be used to pay for government, not that government can't pay for internet. Concrete examples - you can't tax voting. Governments can and do pay for voting machines. You don't get taxed on sending your kids to school. The government does pay for government schools. You don't pay a tax on researching solar panels, the government does pay for solar panel research.
dot beta slash
Franchise Fee $4.91, FCC Fee $0.09, Total fees $5.00 per month. For TV and Internet.
in 1998 there was a sizeable movement to declare internet access a 'basic human right' and as such, make it an entitlement. Since republicans and conservatives alike respond to the word Entitlement in much the same way as a microwave responds to a sack of paper clips, its safe to say this legislation was enacted to ensure your internet remains permanently comcastic. so how did this come to pass?
the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), following a proposal by the government of Tunisia during ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Minneapolis in 1998, approved Resolution 73 to hold a World Summit on the Information Society and put forward it to the United Nations. It cant be stressed enough that 1998 was clearly a better year for congress as is evidenced by the fact that legislators got wind of the WSIS and its strong position on internet as a basic human right. Much like affirming things like the kyoto protocol and the basic human right to water, the internet was sandbagged in america to ensure it would never amount to something as horrifying as a free service. amending it recently simply extended its reach to local governments. It did now however close a loophole being exploited by local municipalities in which the 'tax' for their paid services like WiMAX and municipal broadband was bundled under things like vehicle registration fees (something used by local governments that need to fund schools but have politicians who promise no new taxes.)
by shitting on the idea of a tax for internet service, congressional republicans have created a two-tier system in america in much the same way as education and housing exist. underprivileged or poor students and families seeking internet access are now relegated back to the library, and those libraries in turn forced to shovel federal dollars into the gaping maw of AT&T and Verizon for something that, yes, is increasingly more of a basic human right in the 21st century.
Good people go to bed earlier.
why am I charged sales tax on the streaming part of my netflix account?
"The Senate must pass the bill as well by November 1 or the temporary ban will lapse." *or*, work out some other arrangement like a 2 year extension. Or didn't the writer pass what used to be Junior-High level civics?
What else, exactly, is attached to this bill that got it to pass? I smell a backdoor attempt on this thing.
Hopefully the Senate will follow right away and they won't try to kill it with stupid politics.
The Senate would not pass up the oportunity to steal more money from us.
If it does pass, then everybody needs to look at the small print, because it will do something else we don't accept.
Too bad the DEMOCRATIC lead senate had more nays than yays.
More democrats supporting anti-internet movements. Sigh.
continue driving the country towards become a cesspool of ignorance.
Anything to stop funding of key programs.
I think this show they are attacking any non rich person in the country, and we shouldn't stand for it. It's class warfare, and the rich are winning.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Municipalities should be allowed to build their own networks. I guess the ISPs are afraid of their competition.
The Internet does not deserve any special tax privileges. If my phone service can be taxed, so could my Internet service. Goods brought on the Internet should also be subject to the same sales taxes as goods bought locally, because, otherwise, Internet stores have an advantage.
That being said, I hate sales taxes because they are so regressive. I also despise that income is taxed differently. Wages should not be taxed more or less than other income. For example, the carried interest classification is unfair and horrible. Personally, I would like to get rid of sales taxes and most other taxes and fund most things with progressive income taxes.
then why does my ISP charge me things like "regulatory cost recovery fee" and "compliance overhead surcharge" and shit like that?
Again, a funny and insightful comment that exposes the truth is buried. I think the moderators want to destroy this site. They're certainly doing all that they can to ruin it.
Our city imposes (suckered the voters into approving) a 3% tax on utilities - comm, power, gas, ... - and has for several years. I think that includes internet service (which is pretty steep around here). My wife and I have been fighting this law and its renewal. (It is driving businesses out of the city - they can cut their costs substantially by relocating just over the line - and thus both blighting the city and cutting other tax revenue.
I think I need to do a little checking to see if they ARE taxing the internet part of the phone bill and if that's prohibited federally. Zapping them for a refund (for everybody, for several years worth) might get their attention. B-)
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
The pundits are passing it off as a ban on taxes for Internet access alone, but it's also a ban on any form of Internet-only taxes. That is fucking insane.
When Harry Reid refuses to bring this to the floor of the Senate... and all the lib/progs scream that it's those evil House Rethugnicans who are the party of "No"
Murphy was an optimist