WATPA: Urgent Notice Regarding Taxation Of The Internet (fwd)

From: Christopher X. Candreva <chris@westnet.com>
Date: Tue Nov 11 2003 - 09:43:32 EST

I'm ashamed to admit I've only paid passing attention to this.

Where do the NY Senators stand on this ?

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 09:10:30 -0500
From: Dave McClure <dmcclure@usiia.org>
To: newsletter@usiia.org
Subject: Urgent Notice Regarding Taxation Of The Internet

============================================================
USIIA Alert November 10, 2003 Alert 03:12
============================================================

This is an urgent alert to all US-based Internet Service
Providers -- and particularly those in the states of Ohio,
Tennessee, South Carolina, North Dakota, Delaware, Alaska,
Florida, California and New Jersey -- from the US Internet
Industry Association.

Please give this the widest possible circulation to Internet
Service Providers and subscribers.

============================================================
On October 31, 2003, the moratorium on new, multiple and
discriminatory taxes on Internet access expired. A bill to
make the moratorium permanent, S.150 (The Internet Tax
Nondiscrimination Act) is currently being blocked in the US
Senate, and unlikely to be voted on until late in November,
if ever.

If the legislation making the moratorium permanent is not
voted on, billions of dollars in new taxes could be levied
on Internet users, with almost no limitations. ISPs will
need to collect and remit taxes to any number of different
taxing authorities in every city, county and state in which
they do business. Other Internet services -- Voice over IP,
Instant Messaging, Electronic Mail, Downloads, Web Hosting,
and more -- will also be subject to new taxes. The cost of
compliance will put most Internet providers out of business,
and will negatively impact both churn rate and the ability
to acquire new customers.

The taxes will cripple efforts to deploy broadband in every
state, affecting business customers even more than residential
customers. It will also cripple the deployment of broadband
services into rural areas. No form of Internet access or
service will be safe from new, multiple and discriminatory
taxes. Cable, Telephone, Satellite, Wireless and all other
forms of Internet service would be affected.

This is not a hoax -- states have attempted to impose taxes
for the five years the moratorium has been in place, and
examples of abuses by tax commissars at the local level are
numerous. Also note that the process will be automatic --
many states already have procedures in their tax code to
implement new and retroactive taxes the moment that the
moratorium is lifted.

Opponents blocking the moratorium -- the Senators who support
the creation of billions of dollars in new, hidden taxes
on the Internet -- are:

Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Phone: (202) 224-4944
Fax: (202) 228-3398

Thomas Carper (D-DE)
Washington, D.C. 20510-3504
Phone: (202) 224-3353
Fax: (202) 228-1382

George Voinovich (R-OH)
Washington Office:
Phone: (202) 224-3353
Fax: (202) 228-1382

Ernest Hollings (D-SC)
Washington Office:
Phone: (202) 224-6121
Fax: (202) 224-4293

Ted Stevens (R-AK)
Phone: (202) 224-3004
Fax: (202) 224-2354

Bob Graham (D-FL)
Phone: (202) 224-3041
Fax: (202) 224-2237

Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
Phone: (202) 224-2551
Fax: (202) 224-1193

Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Phone: (202) 224-3841
Fax: (202) 228-3954

Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Phone: (202) 224-3224
Fax: (202) 228-4054

These champions of higher taxes have offered a "compromise"
that would apply for only two years, and would affect only a
dedicated line from the end user to the ISP's facility --
the access point, head end or station nearest the consumer.
New taxes would be heaped on the remainder of the network --
lines to the Network Access Point, the Internet backbone,
redundant networks and other elements. Dial-up customers,
who do not have dedicated access, would get no break at all.

Siding with these Senators are other elected officials who
want to increase taxes -- the state governors. Governors of
virtually every state (except Colorado, whose Governor Bill
Owens stands against taxing the Internet) are lobbying
fiercely to see the moratorium defeated.

In the end, most Internet access providers in the US will be
immediately and permanently driven out of business. The cost
of Internet will nearly double for most end users, and will
more than double for dial-up customers, as these taxes are
passed along.

WHAT YOU MUST DO:

1) Go to NoEmailTax.com to get current information.

2) Make certain that every one of your subscribers is aware
    of the impending new taxes and let them know how to
    contact their Senators (see http://www.congress.ord for
    help).

3) Contact your Senator and demand that he or she support
    the permanent extension of the Allen-Wyden tax moratorium
    (bill S.150).

4) Make this an issue in your state. Write to the newspapers.
    Call talk shows. Make it a campaign issue. Get involved,
    for your own sake and that of your subscribers.

5) If you reside in Ohio, Tennessee, South Carolina, North
    Dakota, Delaware, Alaska, Florida, California or New
    Jersey, your Senators need to hear from you today on this
    issue.

6) Forward this alert to every ISP with whom you do business,
    and every ISP discussion list you belong to. Urge them
    to take action today.

=============================================================
This email is an alert from the US Internet Industry
Association, the nation's oldest and largest trade association
for Internet commerce, content and connectivity. Information
regarding USIIA can be found at http://www.usiia.org.

Please communicate this information to other ISPs and
Internet companies.
Received on Tue Nov 11 09:43:33 2003

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