This was forwarded to me:
"ATTENTION ALL INTERNET USERS!!!
It has come to my attention that Congress, while placing a three-year
moratium on Internet taxes,
is seriously considering placing a tax on users, equivalent to the
cost of a long distance connection,
each and every time a user connects to the net. This is absolutely
ludicrous!! Taxing the user for
their net connections is like taxing us every time we speak! The
Internet is nothing more than a
communications medium. The government, both federal and Local,
already tax us for the use of our
phone lines (check your monthly bill). Just think what this means to
your Internet use today!!
This tax is patently unfair and highly dangerous to the Internet.
Consider--
=> There are over a 70 million users of the Internet in the US today
(both corporate and individual).
Each user accesses the net on the conservative side at least
once a day if for no other reason
than to check for e-mail ("You've got Mail!!"). That's 365
accesses - AT A MINIMUM - for each
user each year, or a total of a minimum of 25.55 billion
accesses annually -- and growing at the
rate of 15% annually. If the cost is $.50 for a long distance
conection each time, that means
each user - AT A MINIMUM - will be paying an additional $187.50
per year to use the net. This
is above and beyond the (1) phone line conection charge, (2) the
phone connection taxes, (3) the
ISP service charges, and (4) other site charges depending on
where you go. Potential revenue
to the government is $12.75 B annually -- and growing right
along with the Internet. No wonder
it is seen by the government as a lucrative tax cash cow.
=> E-commerce which uses the net (Yahoo, Amazon, Priceline, AOL, etc)
had a $5.5 B volume last year.
This is expected to grow to $15 B in 2003 (source: The Industry
Standard) and continue to grow
at a very high rate. It is obvious that e-commerce is going to
be a major retail market in the
next millenium. This can come crashing down and destroy a new
major market for all goods if this
tax, or a derivative, is enacted.
=> There exists on the net free software that users can install which
keeps their Internet connection
open and avoiding automatic timeout. This software will get
more sophisticated as ISPs try to
counter it. If the tax, or a derivative Net Use tax is enacted,
users will get the software, install it,
make their connections, AND NEVER LOG OFF!! They will do this to
avoid the use tax. Just think
of the impact on the net. With continuous open connections, the
net will quickly flounder. The result
is (1) constant busy signals for the 90% of the users who did
not get connected in time; (2) loss of
e-commerce business because buyers can't get in to buy; (3)
ultimate loss of revenue for the
suppliers to the e-commerce companies (somebody has to make the
books, CDs, clothes,
electronics, etc that users buy); heavy loss of revenue to the
shippers of e-commerce products;
and (4) ultimate loss of revenue for the government because they
won't be collecting all those net
use charges as users learn to circumvent them. To counter this,
ISP's will have to install automatic
time limits for each user - they days of unlimited, flat-fee
access will be gone forever.
=> Off shore ISPs will flourish and offer US net users a high speed,
toll free outside number to connect
to the net and thus avoid the Net use tax. This will remove
those revenues from all US based ISPs
into external US companies and interests. It will also place the
overall policy management of the
net into other than US hands.
I, for one, am going to make sure each of my Congressional
representatives (House and Senate) and
Slick Willie receives my very loud - and often - protest to this tax.
The net belongs to mankind, free and
unecumbered by regulation and taxes. It allows all of humankind,
wherever they are, to freely exchange
ideas, thoughts, inventions, and conduct business. We do not need,
nor want, any form of government
taxation or regulation on the net. (While I admit there are issues of
content and access controls to protect
children, the laws of the country that exist today are stringent
enough to prosecute violators. And it is
the job of parents, not the government, to educate their children on
the dangers and hazards of the Net.)
History, both past and current, has shown that regulation of
communications and information ultimately
leads to repressive governmental regimes.
Use the power of the Net to protect your rights for the open use of
the Internet. Some of the starting
places to inform your leaders are
www.whitehouse.gov
www.senate.gov
www.house.gov
http://www.house.gov/writerep
It takes but a minute to locate and send a message to your
governmental leaders.
JUST DO IT!!
BJ@The_Redoubt.com
PS. Copy this message and send it to friends, relatives, business
associates, naybody. The people have to
know and act."
****************
Addendum: I can't corroborate the info on a Congressional vote in 2 weeks....
------------------
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"
[This message has been edited by DC (edited 01-20-99).]
"ATTENTION ALL INTERNET USERS!!!
It has come to my attention that Congress, while placing a three-year
moratium on Internet taxes,
is seriously considering placing a tax on users, equivalent to the
cost of a long distance connection,
each and every time a user connects to the net. This is absolutely
ludicrous!! Taxing the user for
their net connections is like taxing us every time we speak! The
Internet is nothing more than a
communications medium. The government, both federal and Local,
already tax us for the use of our
phone lines (check your monthly bill). Just think what this means to
your Internet use today!!
This tax is patently unfair and highly dangerous to the Internet.
Consider--
=> There are over a 70 million users of the Internet in the US today
(both corporate and individual).
Each user accesses the net on the conservative side at least
once a day if for no other reason
than to check for e-mail ("You've got Mail!!"). That's 365
accesses - AT A MINIMUM - for each
user each year, or a total of a minimum of 25.55 billion
accesses annually -- and growing at the
rate of 15% annually. If the cost is $.50 for a long distance
conection each time, that means
each user - AT A MINIMUM - will be paying an additional $187.50
per year to use the net. This
is above and beyond the (1) phone line conection charge, (2) the
phone connection taxes, (3) the
ISP service charges, and (4) other site charges depending on
where you go. Potential revenue
to the government is $12.75 B annually -- and growing right
along with the Internet. No wonder
it is seen by the government as a lucrative tax cash cow.
=> E-commerce which uses the net (Yahoo, Amazon, Priceline, AOL, etc)
had a $5.5 B volume last year.
This is expected to grow to $15 B in 2003 (source: The Industry
Standard) and continue to grow
at a very high rate. It is obvious that e-commerce is going to
be a major retail market in the
next millenium. This can come crashing down and destroy a new
major market for all goods if this
tax, or a derivative, is enacted.
=> There exists on the net free software that users can install which
keeps their Internet connection
open and avoiding automatic timeout. This software will get
more sophisticated as ISPs try to
counter it. If the tax, or a derivative Net Use tax is enacted,
users will get the software, install it,
make their connections, AND NEVER LOG OFF!! They will do this to
avoid the use tax. Just think
of the impact on the net. With continuous open connections, the
net will quickly flounder. The result
is (1) constant busy signals for the 90% of the users who did
not get connected in time; (2) loss of
e-commerce business because buyers can't get in to buy; (3)
ultimate loss of revenue for the
suppliers to the e-commerce companies (somebody has to make the
books, CDs, clothes,
electronics, etc that users buy); heavy loss of revenue to the
shippers of e-commerce products;
and (4) ultimate loss of revenue for the government because they
won't be collecting all those net
use charges as users learn to circumvent them. To counter this,
ISP's will have to install automatic
time limits for each user - they days of unlimited, flat-fee
access will be gone forever.
=> Off shore ISPs will flourish and offer US net users a high speed,
toll free outside number to connect
to the net and thus avoid the Net use tax. This will remove
those revenues from all US based ISPs
into external US companies and interests. It will also place the
overall policy management of the
net into other than US hands.
I, for one, am going to make sure each of my Congressional
representatives (House and Senate) and
Slick Willie receives my very loud - and often - protest to this tax.
The net belongs to mankind, free and
unecumbered by regulation and taxes. It allows all of humankind,
wherever they are, to freely exchange
ideas, thoughts, inventions, and conduct business. We do not need,
nor want, any form of government
taxation or regulation on the net. (While I admit there are issues of
content and access controls to protect
children, the laws of the country that exist today are stringent
enough to prosecute violators. And it is
the job of parents, not the government, to educate their children on
the dangers and hazards of the Net.)
History, both past and current, has shown that regulation of
communications and information ultimately
leads to repressive governmental regimes.
Use the power of the Net to protect your rights for the open use of
the Internet. Some of the starting
places to inform your leaders are
www.whitehouse.gov
www.senate.gov
www.house.gov
http://www.house.gov/writerep
It takes but a minute to locate and send a message to your
governmental leaders.
JUST DO IT!!
BJ@The_Redoubt.com
PS. Copy this message and send it to friends, relatives, business
associates, naybody. The people have to
know and act."
****************
Addendum: I can't corroborate the info on a Congressional vote in 2 weeks....
------------------
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"
[This message has been edited by DC (edited 01-20-99).]