Hoaxes On The Internet

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Subject: Internet Tax

Guess we realized the government would sooner or later find a way to tax us for using the Internet.

Congress will be voting in less than two weeks. CNN stated that the Government would, in two weeks time, decide to allow or not allow a Charge to your phone bill equal to a Long Distance call EACH time you access the Internet. The address is http://www.house.gov/writerep/

If you choose, visit the address above and fill out the necessary form.

If EACH one of us, forward this message on to others in a hurry, we may be able to prevent this injustice from happening!

Please Pass This ON

Here's what I did:

1. For starters, someone else verified this as false, citing USA Today. The text is below as "USA Today Article".
2. I used it as a starting point by going to the FCC Website at www.fcc.gov.
3. Under "Hot Topics" was a hyperlink for Internet & Interstate Information Services.
4. You'll find the following quote:
   Q: Is the FCC considering taxes for use of the Internet or online services?
   A: No. The debate involves charges levied by local phone companies, not government taxes.
5. Finally, I went to the House of Representatives Website at www.house.gov. I searched the entire site for "Internet Tax Hoax". I found a statement from Pennsylvania Congressman Tim Holden at http://www.house.gov/holden/is-fcc.htm. The article is given below as "House of Representatives Statement"
6. As well, I went to at www.altavista.com and typed "Internet Tax Myth". I found an article from PC World Online http://www.pcworld.com/pcwtoday/article/0,1510,7604,00.html. It is listed below as the article labelled below as "Internet Tax Ban"

Copyright 1999 Gannett Company, Inc.
USA TODAY

February 25, 1999, Thursday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 14A
LENGTH: 569 words
HEADLINE: Internet tax a myth
BODY:

In response to numerous calls and letters to my office and erroneous news reports that Congress is considering allowing a long distance charge on telephone bills for Internet calls, I would like to set the record straight.

This rumor is false.

This is an urban myth of the Internet.

Congress is not considering any bill to allow a telephone charge for Internet users.

Nor does the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulate Internet Service Provider rates.

And there is no open comment period on this issue before the FCC.

Last year, Congress passed the Internet Tax Freedom Act, which established a three-year moratorium on Internet taxation, in regard to so-called access charges and to sales-tax collection from any entity outside your home state or locality. I am certain a similar measure again will be passed by the House of Representatives.

Friendly e-mail and spam should not always be believed. Check out the government Web site at www.fcc.gov for more information.

Rep. John M. Shimkus, R-Ill., member
House Commerce Telecommunications,
Trade and Consumer Protection
Subcommittee, Washington, D.C.

FCC INTERNET TAX A HOAX

There is NO bill currently before Congress calling for a tax on internet access!

Over the past few months, a rumor has circulated through our nation's email system which states that in the next few weeks the Congress is going to vote to allow phone companies to charge long distance fees on a per minute basis to their customers who use the internet. I can assure you that no such bill exists and I have strong concerns with any attempt to tax individuals for internet usage. Please be assured that, if any bill to place taxes on the internet is introduced, I will express your reservations to my colleagues on the Commerce Committee which has jurisdiction over this matter.

To further clarify how this myth was spread, Please click on this link to a fact sheet on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) web site, the federal agency with jurisdiction over the internet. In simple terms, if a customer of one phone company contacts a customer of another phone company, the first company must compensate the second for completing the call. Currently phone companies are fighting to see if Internet Service Providers (ISPs), or the means by which customers are connected to the internet, are subject to the same compensation. The myth of an internet tax resulted from this dispute.

Again, let me convey to you in the strongest way possible, There is NO bill currently before Congress calling for a tax on internet access!

Senate Committee Approves Internet Tax Ban

Finance Committee approves bill imposing two-year moratorium on Net taxes.

by Elinor Mills, IDG News Service July 29, 1998, 10:49 a.m. PT

The Senate Finance Committee Wednesday approved a bill that would impose a two-year moratorium on new Internet taxes to give a special commission time to study the issue.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, would prohibit any new taxes on access to the Internet or goods and services purchased online and create a commission to make recommendations to the president and Congress.

The bill now goes to the full Senate for a vote. A similar bill before the Senate was approved last year by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. If either bill is approved by the Senate, it will have to be reconciled with a similar House of Representatives bill that calls for a three-year Internet tax moratorium before going to the president for his signature.

The Senate Finance Committee amended the Wyden bill to reduce the length of the moratorium from three years to two years and the length of time that the special commission would have to study the issue from two years to 18 months.

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