more on EU to tax e-mail, text messages? - overblown

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Seth Finkelstein <sethf () sethf com>
Date: May 27, 2006 8:35:10 PM EDT
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Cc: ip () v2 listbox com, lauren () vortex com,  
Bob2-19-0501 () bobf frankston com
Subject: Re: [IP] EU to tax e-mail, text messages? - overblown

        As far as I can tell, this story is being blown way, way,
out of proportion. The EU is nowhere near taxing e-mail or text
messages. *One* member *put forth* the idea in a discussion, but
it's unclear if anything ever happened after that. I managed to
trace back what might be the source:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/ 
002-7845-128-05-19-901-20060503IPR07844-08-05-2006-2006-false/ 
default_en.htm

"Participants were not short of imagination for new forms of funding:
taxes on flights, company profits or even on short text messages sent
by mobile phones. The supporter of this idea, EP own resources
rapporteur Alain Lamassoure (EPP-ED, FR), also believed that the new
system would have to be clearly linked with benefits drawn from the
European Union. Thanks to the internal market "exchanges between
countries have ballooned, so everyone would understand that the money
to finance the EU should come from the benefits engendered by the EU,"
he explained."

        Then there was an interview with a newspaper, EU Observer,
which is now locked in pay-archives, though there's some excerpts here:
http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2006/05/012321.htm

        Alain Lamassoure has a website here:

http://www.alainlamassoure.com/

        There's a forum where he's responding, but it's in French,
and I don't feel comfortable attempting to translate his replies.

        But there's a vast difference between some woolgathering,
and any sort of formal proposal, much less anything being enacted.

--
Seth Finkelstein  Consulting Programmer  http://sethf.com
Infothought blog - http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/
Interview: http://sethf.com/essays/major/greplaw-interview.php


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