SkyBOX: Taxing The Air

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>

    SkyBOX: Taxing The Air
by Evie Haskell evie () mediabiz com

Here's the latest competitive strategy from the wired ones
and it's got satellite folks scurrying to state legislatures
across the country. It's the great old, "Don't tax you, don't
tax me, tax that fellow behind the tree" ploy. In this case
the fellow behind the tree is anyone with a satellite dish
attached to the house, so pay attention here.

The lynch pin of the strategy is the cable franchise fee.
Cable guys pay these fees in exchange for exclusive access to
place their infrastructure across a wide range of community
properties: They can tear up the streets, dig through yards,
attach wires to public utility poles .... in other words, use
all the facilities needed to get that much vaunted terrestrial
infrastructure in place. (The very same infrastructure that
let's them skirt FCC regs in order to deliver exclusive
programming, but that's another story.)

The way the cable guys see it, they pay these franchise fees
and the satellite guys " gasp! " don't. Of course the satellite
guys don't use the public infrastructure that the fees are
based on, but, hey, we're talking competitive strategy, not
fair play. So what do the cable guys do? They go to those state
legislatures, which are a bit strapped for cash these days, and
introduce the far fetched, but monetarily appealing, argument,
that franchise fees are really taxes. Ergo, the state guys
should slap a hefty tax on satellite subscribers to "equalize"
things. Of course, the dish heads don't use the public
facilities, and they do pay taxes aplenty via equipment sold,
payrolls, buildings used etc. But if there's cash to be
had ...

Anyhow, it's a pretty slick ploy from the wired ones. And if
ever there was a case for industry unity, and a common lobbying
arm, it's right here. Because if the satellite guys don't keep
their heads up and their act together, they're likely to find
their subscribers slapped with special taxes for using the air.

Source:  SkyREPORT 05/05/2003

Archives at: <http://Wireless.Com/Dewayne-Net>
Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>


------ End of Forwarded Message

-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com
To manage your subscription, go to
  http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/