FC: On C-SPAN Washington Journal tomorrow morning; tax; privacy

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

I'll be on C-SPAN's Washington Journal from 9:10 am to 10 am EDT tomorrow
talking about privacy, free speech, restrictions on online gun sales, that
kind of stuff.

-Declan

---

Other stuff:

"Internet Tax Bill Heats Up Debate"
Washington Technology (10/11/99) Vol. 14, No. 14, P. 1; LeSueur,
Steve

Utah Gov. Michael Levitt, chairman of the National Governor's
Association (NGA), recently voiced his opposition to proposed
legislation that would extend the prohibition on the taxation of
e-commerce transactions.  Levitt says the federal legislation
would undermine the ability of state and local governments to
implement taxation policies of their own choosing.  "The Internet
doesn't need any special privileges", according to Levitt.  The
NGA recently created a task force called the Zero Burden Group
which is researching ways to simplify tax codes and collections,
as well as studying new software that could make e-commerce tax
collection and computation easier by instantly computing the
sales tax by plugging in a zip code.  Levitt is also a member of
the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce, which was created
in 1998 as part of the Internet Tax Freedom Act to study the
ramifications of e-commerce taxation.  Those supporting Internet
taxation say the huge shift of untaxed buying and selling that is
moving to the Internet may slowly deplete the coffers of state
and local governments, which need the revenues generated by sales
tax to fund schools, roads, and highways.  State and local
governments also worry that leaving e-commerce untaxed will cause
customers of brick-and-mortar stores to switch to buying more
cheaply over the Internet, thus possibly causing those stores to
go bankrupt.  However, opponents of Internet taxation cite a
recent Ernst & Young study showing that roughly 80 percent of
e-commerce transactions are business-to-business sales that are
either not affected by sales or use taxes, or are subject to use
tax payments by in-state business purchasers.  The study also
reveals that 63 percent of e-commerce purchases are for
intangibles, such as travel or personal financial transactions,
or for products that are not taxed in most states, such as
groceries and prescription drugs.  The Advisory Commission on
Electronic Commerce will meet two more times before submitting
its recommendations to Congress in April 2000.


"EU Agrees to Self-Regulation Principles, But Doubts Remain"
DM News (10/18/99) Vol. 21, No. 39, P. 1; Weyr, Thomas

U.S. self-regulation of private data sent from the U.S. to
European Union countries has been accepted as a foundation of
adequate protection, but other issues have yet to be clarified.
Both sides are hoping for a resolution by the EU-U.S. summit in
Washington on Dec. 17; however, both sides admit that the details
of the agreement will not be worked out by that date.  EU
acceptance of the self-regulation concept looks promising for
future compromises over the enforcement of privacy rules.  The
U.S. has given both the state and federal law the ability to
crack down on crime.  The EU wants further explanations of which
parts of law enforcement will be involved in certain situations.
The EU believes relying on self-regulation without intervention
by public authorities will not work.  The EU will agree to the
U.S. proposal, but will reserve the right to withdraw that
approval if later deemed necessary.  The U.S. is worried that two
layers of enforcement will further confuse the situation, and
does not want to be treated differently than any other country in
data passage to the EU.  The U.S. wants the privacy protection
plan implemented in two years, while the EU wants it implemented
in the next six months.




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