Someone is paying $15/month to play an online game. Let's say after 12 months, they get a billion in virtual gold. They sell this virtual gold for 100 USD. $15/month times 12 months is $180. So, that's a net loss of $80, right?
Well, okay. But, for this virtual currency, is there even a fair market value for it? Hmmm. Just thought of coupons which tend to say, value like 1/10th of a cent or something. Maybe the game creators can arbitrarily assign a value. Maybe say, "Virtual currency has no real value, or if it must be assigned a value, every billion dollars is worth 1/10th of a cent."
That sounds like a good idea. But, it really depends on the business, does it not?
3 day weekends? So the business would be closed every Friday? Well, another idea might be to mix it up a little. Allow employees to choose between having Mondays or Fridays off. Those days could be "light" days, in which the business doesn't operate to it's full capacity, but Tues-Thurs would be the core days. Or would that be a flawed idea?
But what happens when you take that "in kind" and convert it to real money? It's a form of income. However, I don't think the government should tax something "in kind" if it is never converted.
Fake money has no real value until converted to real currency. And this article, this topic, is a bit tricky.
Person A pays Person B to do a task in a virtual world, and gets paid virtual money. If the virtual money is converted to real currency, sure, why shouldn't it be taxed?
Person A pays Person B to do a task in real life, and pays that person in virtual money. If the virtual money is converted to reall currency, sure, why shouldn't it be taxed? But, would it be legal to pay someone virtual money for a task done in real life? There's minimum wage laws and whatnot.
We're in a grey area here. But, common sense dictates, if something is converted to real money, it should be taxed, right? If I somehow get a billion dollars in virtual world money, then sell it to someone on eBay or whatnot, hypothetically, why shouldn't I be taxed on that?
It depends. There's the base price. Let's call it $30/month. Will they add on a fee on top of that, for receiving a paper bill? Or will it simply be the base price?
Is anyone a bit bothered by a company fining, I mean charging, you to receive paper bills? Shouldn't the goal be to encourage without penalizing people to go paperless? Paper bills still have a use. It's a hard copy. No worries about digital decay.
For the duration of the account, save all past bills. When the account is closed, give the consumer 30 days access to past bills, somehow. Also, perhaps the company should retain the bills for no less than 12 months after the account is closed, for legal or tax reasons.
No, I still have some jokes left. Now, if only if I remember where I stored them....proceeds to take each hard drive off the tree, plugs it into computer, and searches for joke file containing hard drive jokes...
Rather than arguing for or against taxing non-tangible products, let me says this...
How is New York's tax system done? Isn't it income tax, property tax, and some sort of sales tax?
They have a sales tax, right? They're just extending it to non-tangible goods. How is downloaded music any different from buying a CD, in regards to taxes? Why shouldn't it be taxed?
Taxi rides, movie tickets, cable and satellite TV, seem like a bad idea to be taxed. Taxi rides are a big part in living in the city, right? Movie tickets are expensive enough already, right? And, well, cable and satellite TV, what effect will that have on people voting for him next time around?
But are there any studies showing that students having laptops improve their learning to justify such an expense?
Do the students keep the laptops post-graduation?
And, could some overcrowded schools benefit from more teachers to reduce class size? Not all schools, but some.
And, where precisely is this money coming from? The taxpayers, right? Is Australia in a recession like America? Maybe it's time to conserve rather than spend.
The tag "whatcouldpossiblygowrong" is so right. Too bad we can't mod tags up.
Cell phones can be used for emergencies.
Worse yet, this does NOT solve any problem. If teens aren't smart enough to not use a cell phone from driving, maybe they shouldn't be driving in the first place.
I propose a business creating business proposals, that is, ideas for businesses.
This business will be a great idea, creating new markets in society, something we need to ensure people have a place to apply to once they're laid off.
However, if my business fails, I need a government bailout, for, if my business fails, it affects millions, nay, tens of millions of people, who would otherwise benefit from me.
Can you imagine, if the game makers were to receive some sort of profit from the sale of the games they code? Like, let's say a million man-hours are put into a specific game. And a specific person poured 3000 hours into it. Perhaps he should receive 0.3% of a 'specific' portion of the profits. Let's say 40% of the profits are shared amongst those for the duration of the game release. The better the game, the better the profits. The more incentive there is to do well, to make sure people buy it.
By the way, my original post was meant to be on the humour side.
After all, if it goes under, we'll get a lot of people, who spend hours gaming, not gaming anymore. This means less soda and junk food to snack on, which in turn, means the junk food industry will be hurt, which, in turn, means more layoffs.
Have a student vote, with a quorum of 40%. So, if less than 40% of the students vote, it doesn't count. Then have a student vote. I'd say simple majority, but if half the students don't want it, it may be infringing. Requiring a 3/5th majority. And perhaps limit it to no more than 3 years per vote.
If students really, really want to do it, fine.
By the way, how would this affect off-campus students? Since it's an Internet-based thing, those who live off-campus aren't necessarily under the thumb of the university, so they shouldn't be subject to it.
And, why stop at universities? (sarcastic comment to come) Why not just do it at the ISP level? It seems arbitrary to just subject students to the "tax". Perhaps we should subject everyone to this "tax".
Seeing that it's only text ads (it is just text ads, right?), it probably isn't a huge distraction. Perhaps it depends on the student. How about this?
1. Teacher asks who is okay with the ads on the paper. Takes a roll count. 2. Teacher prints X tests with the ads, and Y tests without the ads. 3. Teacher adjusts rates for selling the ads appropriately.
My original post is probably oversimplified, but it's a start.
The problem is the idea of a quick solution, and short term thinking. We need to think long term, and figure out if there is a way to solve problems without the simple tax and spend. Changes in laws, perhaps, may help solve some problems. Also, cutting the fat, things that aren't necessarily needed.
As for the economy, change is going to happen. Some businesses will fail, and perhaps they should. If they don't want to fail, they should adapt to the ever-changing world.
People are going to become unemployed, but there are social programs providing a temporary safety net.
Slashdot Mirror
Couldn't we apply that logic to online games?
Someone is paying $15/month to play an online game.
Let's say after 12 months, they get a billion in virtual gold.
They sell this virtual gold for 100 USD.
$15/month times 12 months is $180.
So, that's a net loss of $80, right?
Well, okay. But, for this virtual currency, is there even a fair market value for it? Hmmm. Just thought of coupons which tend to say, value like 1/10th of a cent or something. Maybe the game creators can arbitrarily assign a value. Maybe say, "Virtual currency has no real value, or if it must be assigned a value, every billion dollars is worth 1/10th of a cent."
That sounds like a good idea. But, it really depends on the business, does it not?
3 day weekends? So the business would be closed every Friday? Well, another idea might be to mix it up a little. Allow employees to choose between having Mondays or Fridays off. Those days could be "light" days, in which the business doesn't operate to it's full capacity, but Tues-Thurs would be the core days. Or would that be a flawed idea?
But what happens when you take that "in kind" and convert it to real money? It's a form of income. However, I don't think the government should tax something "in kind" if it is never converted.
Fake money has no real value until converted to real currency. And this article, this topic, is a bit tricky.
Person A pays Person B to do a task in a virtual world, and gets paid virtual money. If the virtual money is converted to real currency, sure, why shouldn't it be taxed?
Person A pays Person B to do a task in real life, and pays that person in virtual money. If the virtual money is converted to reall currency, sure, why shouldn't it be taxed? But, would it be legal to pay someone virtual money for a task done in real life? There's minimum wage laws and whatnot.
We're in a grey area here. But, common sense dictates, if something is converted to real money, it should be taxed, right? If I somehow get a billion dollars in virtual world money, then sell it to someone on eBay or whatnot, hypothetically, why shouldn't I be taxed on that?
It depends. There's the base price. Let's call it $30/month. Will they add on a fee on top of that, for receiving a paper bill? Or will it simply be the base price?
Is anyone a bit bothered by a company fining, I mean charging, you to receive paper bills? Shouldn't the goal be to encourage without penalizing people to go paperless? Paper bills still have a use. It's a hard copy. No worries about digital decay.
For the duration of the account, save all past bills. When the account is closed, give the consumer 30 days access to past bills, somehow. Also, perhaps the company should retain the bills for no less than 12 months after the account is closed, for legal or tax reasons.
Maybe the governor doesn't want Oregonians to leave Oregon.
Agreed. It's impossible to find a brand new standalone VHS machine, but combos are aplenty.
no more microwaving your hard drive to aid in data destruction.
Now, if the FBI is going to raid your house, will they also take your Christmas tree?
The grinch, I mean government, stole Christmas!!
No, I still have some jokes left. Now, if only if I remember where I stored them. ...proceeds to take each hard drive off the tree, plugs it into computer, and searches for joke file containing hard drive jokes...
Someone formatted my Christmas tree!!
Rather than arguing for or against taxing non-tangible products, let me says this...
How is New York's tax system done? Isn't it income tax, property tax, and some sort of sales tax?
They have a sales tax, right? They're just extending it to non-tangible goods. How is downloaded music any different from buying a CD, in regards to taxes? Why shouldn't it be taxed?
Taxi rides, movie tickets, cable and satellite TV, seem like a bad idea to be taxed. Taxi rides are a big part in living in the city, right? Movie tickets are expensive enough already, right? And, well, cable and satellite TV, what effect will that have on people voting for him next time around?
It's virtually painless!
Yeah, I guess you're right.
But are there any studies showing that students having laptops improve their learning to justify such an expense?
Do the students keep the laptops post-graduation?
And, could some overcrowded schools benefit from more teachers to reduce class size? Not all schools, but some.
And, where precisely is this money coming from? The taxpayers, right? Is Australia in a recession like America? Maybe it's time to conserve rather than spend.
The tag "whatcouldpossiblygowrong" is so right. Too bad we can't mod tags up.
Cell phones can be used for emergencies.
Worse yet, this does NOT solve any problem. If teens aren't smart enough to not use a cell phone from driving, maybe they shouldn't be driving in the first place.
I propose a business creating business proposals, that is, ideas for businesses.
This business will be a great idea, creating new markets in society, something we need to ensure people have a place to apply to once they're laid off.
However, if my business fails, I need a government bailout, for, if my business fails, it affects millions, nay, tens of millions of people, who would otherwise benefit from me.
Can you imagine, if the game makers were to receive some sort of profit from the sale of the games they code? Like, let's say a million man-hours are put into a specific game. And a specific person poured 3000 hours into it. Perhaps he should receive 0.3% of a 'specific' portion of the profits. Let's say 40% of the profits are shared amongst those for the duration of the game release. The better the game, the better the profits. The more incentive there is to do well, to make sure people buy it.
By the way, my original post was meant to be on the humour side.
We should bail out the game industry?
After all, if it goes under, we'll get a lot of people, who spend hours gaming, not gaming anymore. This means less soda and junk food to snack on, which in turn, means the junk food industry will be hurt, which, in turn, means more layoffs.
No, how about we let it be decided at the STATE LEVEL? Let the individual states decide their own drug laws, not the federal government.
Here's an idea.
Have a student vote, with a quorum of 40%. So, if less than 40% of the students vote, it doesn't count. Then have a student vote. I'd say simple majority, but if half the students don't want it, it may be infringing. Requiring a 3/5th majority. And perhaps limit it to no more than 3 years per vote.
If students really, really want to do it, fine.
By the way, how would this affect off-campus students? Since it's an Internet-based thing, those who live off-campus aren't necessarily under the thumb of the university, so they shouldn't be subject to it.
And, why stop at universities? (sarcastic comment to come) Why not just do it at the ISP level? It seems arbitrary to just subject students to the "tax". Perhaps we should subject everyone to this "tax".
Distraction? Perhaps. Here's a better idea...
Seeing that it's only text ads (it is just text ads, right?), it probably isn't a huge distraction. Perhaps it depends on the student. How about this?
1. Teacher asks who is okay with the ads on the paper. Takes a roll count.
2. Teacher prints X tests with the ads, and Y tests without the ads.
3. Teacher adjusts rates for selling the ads appropriately.
My original post is probably oversimplified, but it's a start.
The problem is the idea of a quick solution, and short term thinking. We need to think long term, and figure out if there is a way to solve problems without the simple tax and spend. Changes in laws, perhaps, may help solve some problems. Also, cutting the fat, things that aren't necessarily needed.
As for the economy, change is going to happen. Some businesses will fail, and perhaps they should. If they don't want to fail, they should adapt to the ever-changing world.
People are going to become unemployed, but there are social programs providing a temporary safety net.