Possible Taxes For Broadband Users 262
Morganis101 writes "CNET News reports that some broadband users might have to endure new universal service taxes. From the article: 'The suggestions came as lawmakers started debating changes to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which created the framework for the Universal Service Fund. The USF should continue to be industry funded, but the base of contributors should be expanded to all providers of two-way communications, regardless of technology used, to ensure competitive neutrality, a bipartisan coalition of rural legislators said in a June 28 letter to the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, which will be drafting the rewrites. That means companies providing broadband services such as VoIP over telephone wires would also have to pay into the fund.'"
Oh my god... (Score:3, Funny)
I never could have anticipated this.
Now (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Taxation Without Reputation (Score:1, Funny)
The poor probably use more taxpayer-funded services like welfare and foodstamps than the rich who can afford things on their own.
As a fairly wealthy American, it kind of pisses me off that some poorer people expect the government to save them from their own mistakes and hand everything to them. It's time they start paying their fair share. Something like a flat tax that would even the burden out for everyone.
Re:Logic? (Score:5, Funny)
They are the government. You have money. They want it.
Everything else is just rationalization.
Makes me glad... (Score:5, Funny)
Network name: Linksys
No wep key...
Woo hoo! No cable fees for soft_guy!
Why only Broadband? (Score:3, Funny)
Surely if they ever were going to introduce taxes, they could introduce a proportional tax, linked to the network connection speed, and apply it across the board. Someone on a 14.4 connection might get a fraction of a cent tax on their connection, while someone on more bandwidth than they know what to do with will be taxed accordingly.
If it was possible to ensure that these taxes would be reinvested back into improving infrastructure and subsidising broadband rollout it could be palatable for American users. Essentially the early adopters / massive bandwidth capacity users subsidise the efforts to bring more users up to their standard of connectivity.
Re:Taxation without Representation? (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah, let's throw all our routing equipment into the nearest body of water! That'll show 'em!
"Bipartisan." (Score:2, Funny)
Woah (Score:3, Funny)