From: "Jim Burnes" <jim.burnes@n-o--s-p-a-m.ssds.com>
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 04:35:55 +0800
To: rah@shipwright.com>
Subject: Re: Net Papa: Global Internet Taxes Inevitable
In-Reply-To: <v03110729b03b42f3681f@[139.167.130.247]>
Message-ID: <199709092016.OAA19230@denver.ssds.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



> 
>    (09/09/97; 12:00 p.m. EDT)
>    By Douglas Hayward, TechWire
> 
>    GENEVA -- Internet taxes are inevitable, according to the man dubbed
>    the "Father of the Net." The only way to avoid global chaos is to
>    create an international agreement on how to do it, added Vint Cerf at
>    a meeting of the Internet Society here. Cerf co-developed the
>    TCP/IP[LINK] protocol on which all Web and Net transaction depend.

Jeez.  I'm glad I sold all my Cerf shares at www.roguemarket.com

> 
>    ...Taxation of the Internet, also called "bit taxes," must be well
>    planned, Cerf said. "And it must also be thought through on a global
>    scale -- not parochially," he said. In the United States. alone, there
>    are 30,000 taxing authorities that might be interested in taxing
>    transactions on the Internet, said Cerf, adding that right now, there
>    is no way to determine which of those authorities should have
>    jurisdiction over a particular transaction.

Its amazing that Cerf doesn't even understand the implications of the
network that he designed.  Or maybe he does understand and just
doesn't like the fact that big bro is getting cut out of his future 
utopia.

> 
>    ..."If something is becoming an infrastructure that is important for
>    people's daily lives, then governments will have the right to be
>    concerned about the public's safety and well-being," Cerf said.

Yes and they've done such a good job protecting the public's safety
and well-being.  I don't remember the constitution spelling out 
anything about "governments rights".  Just the feds and states
limited powers.

If paranoia was on the agenda, someone would be shouting 
New World Order at this point.

;-)


> 
Jim Burnes
Engineer, Western Security, SSDS Inc
jim.burnes@ssds.com
----
When the world is running down
Make the best of what's still around
                   - Sting