34AEJ7D@CMUVM.BITNET (Bill Gorman) (10/31/90)
Index Number: 11431 Does anybody know the status of the proposed taxes Bush wants to slap on modems, computers, etc., as the user fees proposed for everyone using a modem over a phone line? W. K. (Bill) Gorman
rbarth@tumtum.cs.umd.edu (Dick Barth) (11/05/90)
Index Number: 11496
In Digest # 1603, 34AEJ7D@CMUVM.BITNET (Bill Gorman) writes:
Does anybody know the status of the proposed taxes Bush wants to slap
on modems, computers, etc., as the user fees proposed for everyone
using a modem over a phone line?
W. K. (Bill) Gorman
Oh Lord, not that again. I'm delighted to tell you, Bill, that there's no
such proposal. There was one, several years ago, and it got shouted down
by a lot of computer users who told the FCC they were having no part of
it. It was an FCC proposal to creage special charges for phone lines
used for modem calls. There was no indication Bush had anything to do
with it; some genius at the FCC thought it up.
However, it's dead and has been for some time. A lot of bulletin boards
must still have old files and messages carrying alarmist messages about
it, because every so often the matter surfaces again as if it were still
a real idea instead of an anachronism.Eric.Bohlman@p1.f778.n115.z1.fidonet.org (Eric Bohlman) (11/06/90)
Index Number: 11562
BG> From: 34AEJ7D@CMUVM.BITNET (Bill Gorman)
BG> Does anybody know the status of the proposed taxes Bush wants to slap
BG> on modems, computers, etc., as the user fees proposed for everyone
BG> using a modem over a phone line?
At one point it looked as if the "luxury tax" was going to cover computers,
but it appears to have been dropped from the proposal.
There NEVER WAS a proposal on the part of the Federal government to impose a
surcharge for modem use. What WAS proposed (and rather quickly dropped) was
to impose a surcharge on data networks (such as CompuServe) that
used their own long-distance transmission facilities rather than using those
of carriers like AT&T or MCI. The rationale was that AT&T, MCI, etc. were
required to pay access charges to local phone companies and that the exemption
for the data networks gave them an unfair advantage. While this proposal
would have resulted in severe rate increases for CompuServe or PCPursuit
subscribers, it would have had NO effect on the rates for making local or
long-distance calls through ordinary carriers.
Some of the confusion arose because at the same time, some phone companies in
the Southwest were trying to classify BBSs as businesses in order to charge
them business rates for their incoming lines. The FCC proposal to impose a
monthly surcharge on modem users and give it to the phone companies to replace
revenues lost to deregulation, however, was as real as the Doberman that was
choking on a burglar's finger and the Mexican dog that was really a giant
rat--an urban legend.
--
Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!115!778.1!Eric.Bohlman
Internet: Eric.Bohlman@p1.f778.n115.z1.fidonet.orgera@ncar.ucar.edu (Ed Arnold) (11/07/90)
Index Number: 11616 In article <15313@bunker.UUCP> 34AEJ7D@CMUVM.BITNET (Bill Gorman) writes: |Index Number: 11431 | |Does anybody know the status of the proposed taxes Bush wants to slap |on modems, computers, etc., as the user fees proposed for everyone |using a modem over a phone line? What? Could you explain this, please? Are you talking just about the proposed tax on new equipment, or have you heard that he's going to try to tax existing equipment too? I have the feeling that if he sets the threshold for taxing new equipment at $1000, we're all going to learn very quickly how to purchase piece-by-piece ... -- era@ncar.ucar.edu
34AEJ7D@CMUVM.BITNET (Bill Gorman) (11/09/90)
Index Number: 11647 rbarth@tumtum.cs.umd.edu (Dick Barth) writes: > >In Digest # 1603, 34AEJ7D@CMUVM.BITNET (Bill Gorman) writes: >> >> Does anybody know the status of the proposed taxes Bush wants to slap >> >Oh Lord, not that again. I'm delighted to tell you, Bill, that there's no >such proposal. There was one, several years ago, and it got shouted down OK, if you say so. I heard about it not too long ago on a radio news program. W. K. (Bill) Gorman