U.N. could tax U.S.-based Web sites

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57449375-83/u.n-could-tax-u.s.-based-web-sites-leaked-docs-show/

by voodoochilo • 14 years ago

9 4 14 years ago

news.cnet.com

loceng• 14 years ago

Highly doubt this would just be about taxing U.S.-based websites. Clearly the article is biased. Anyone know what the benefits of such a tax could bring? Let's see the other side of the coin..

conanite2• 14 years ago

From one of the linked documents:

Operating Agencies shall endeavour to provide sufficient telecommunications facilities to meet requirements of and demand for international telecommunication services. For this purpose, and to ensure an adequate return on investment in high bandwidth infrastructures, operating agencies shall negotiate commercial agreements to achieve a sustainable system of fair compensation for telecommunications services and, where appropriate, respecting the principle of sending party network pays

What's the "sending party network pays" principle? I get that if I make a phone call, I pay, not the receiver. But if someone in a village in Africa consults google, _that_ person is the initiator, not google. So I'm not sure what way around this is supposed to work.

Besides, each party is already paying for bandwidth on each end.

"operating agencies shall negotiate commercial agreements" - this doesn't sound like "tax" (in that governments are not the beneficiaries), it sounds like granting new powers to bandwidth providers. I'm guessing the T-word is linkbait, even if the proposal is horrible anyway.

conanite2• 14 years ago

Aha ... in the other (longer) linked document, the T-word is mentioned:

National authorities are free to impose taxes on all telecommunications traffic, whether incoming or outgoing.

I don't know how to interpret this document, particularly as it's a work in progress, and looks like the output of a human-powered diff process. But it's hard to conclude that it specifically targets Google or Apple, or the U.S., or even just websites. It's about telecommunications.

tthomas48• 14 years ago

It sounds like this is more of a tarrif issue attempting to balance trade issues more than a straight tax. As such my hunch is this isn't going anywhere. And isn't it that countries would be allowed by the UN to tax US companies to fund network build-outs? That is VERY different from the UN taxing anyone.

U.N. could tax U.S.-based Web sites

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