The Europeans, for all their egalitarian and common sense ways of doing things, the recent mention of a so-called “E-tax,”by a member of the European Parliament has sparked a firestorm of outrage.
Alain Lamassoure, a french member of the European Parliament, proposed creating a Europewide tax on e-mail and phone text messages. Yes, I can’t believe it myself. Though the French certainly love their taxes, keeping 48% of the money from people who earn more than $59,000 USD a year, to spread this not so “free love” around the beloved Union of theirs is just plain wrong.
He notes that e-mail messages would initially be harder “…to measure for taxation,”, but by all means possible.
Internet users have rightly reacted with a mixture of bewilderment and anger. Taxes on the internet here means there could be taxes on the internet everywhere, thus casually beginning a tier system of users who can or cannot afford to communicate on the web or even by text message.
Phone companies and ISP’s appear to be on the side of the consumer, oddly enough, for the time being, and have also reacted harshly to Mr. Lamasssoure’s proposal. Maybe they’re just afraid it will cut into their profits, who knows. Either way, as the saying goes, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” right?
After having read this article first myself, I once again realized that for all its faults, sometimes we got it pretty good over here across the pond. I mean an e-mail tax? Are you kidding me? Stupid is as stupid does.
uh……..never heard of the European Union?
Ecaxtly and they trick by giving you more SHIT thats what they are SHIT channels. Who the heck can figure whats even on when you have 600 channels? You know only maybe 3 have anything decent on.
Shit…I hate email anyways. I rarely use it. These kind of people do not realize that people use the internet because most of the things you can do on it are free. The internet as it exists could never be bent to serve these kinda purposes….unless the audience is a bunch of grazing sheep….wait…..hmmmmmmmmm.
people are mostly a stupid creature. A perfect example is TV….they’ve been programmed to believe you have to pay almost $100 a month for television when it used to be free.
Europe has a parliament now?
I didn’t know it was officially a country yet.
Just imagine if they start in with PMs or “submit comments”………ololoollol……heres another “10 cents” or whatever well spent…
#1 People would send their emails from another country.
#2 There is no way of enforcing an e-mail tax
#3 If they COULD enforce an email tax people would find other methods ( IM P2P )
People are so fucking greeedy. ALways looking to cut this and that and tax this and that.
what cost does the country take from email to have to enforce an email tax? Also if this is a per email fee then what happens if your system is taken over by a spam bot???