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06-12-06, 05:35 PM
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Email, mobile phone text message tax idea floated by European Parliament member sparks online 'furor'
06/11/2006 @ 8:51 pm
Filed by RAW STORY
A 'furor' has broken out in Europe after a European Parliament member suggested that emails and mobil phone text messages could be taxed, according to a story set for Monday's edition of The New York Times RAW STORY has learned.
Excerpts from the article written by Thomas Crampton:
#
A French member of the European Parliament, Alain Lamassoure, recently uttered the dreaded T-word -- taxes -- in connection with e-mail and mobile phone text messages, and in so doing earned the wrath of the Internet generation.
No matter how remote the possibility may be -- or how useful such taxes might be in financing the European Union budget -- the mere mention of taxing messages was enough to ignite the blogosphere and industry lobbying groups.
Lamassoure raised the option of a Europewide tax on e-mail and text messages last month in a meeting on ways to finance the European Union's rising costs. As indignant missives filled the message board on Lamassoure's Web site, he distanced himself from the proposal, saying he had mentioned the idea only as a topic for discussion, not as something he supported.
Any new tax could not move ahead without approval from all of the European Union's 25 national legislatures, and a message tax in particular is not even at the stage of a formal proposal. Still, some politicians and technology experts say the debate could serve to highlight imbalances between casual users and Internet hogs.
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Email_mobile_phone_text_message_tax_0611.html
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/ads/spacer.gif
http://view.atdmt.com/ORG/view/nwyrkfxs0040000007org/direct;at.orgfxs00000890/01/
June 12, 2006
Idea for Electronic Message Tax Prompts Swift Outcry in Europe
By THOMAS CRAMPTON (http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=bylL&v1=THOMAS CRAMPTON&fdq=19960101&td=sysdate&sort=newest&ac=THOMAS CRAMPTON&inline=nyt-per), International Herald Tribune
PARIS, June 11 — A French member of the European Parliament (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/e/european_parliament/index.html?inline=nyt-org), Alain Lamassoure, recently uttered the dreaded T-word — taxes — in connection with e-mail and mobile phone text messages, and in so doing earned the wrath of the Internet generation.
No matter how remote the possibility may be — or how useful such taxes might be in financing the European Union (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/e/european_union/index.html?inline=nyt-org) budget — the mere mention of taxing messages was enough to ignite the blogosphere and industry lobbying groups.
Mr. Lamassoure raised the option of a Europewide tax on e-mail and text messages last month in a working group on ways to finance the European Union's rising costs. As indignant missives filled the message board on Mr. Lamassoure's Web site, he distanced himself from the proposal, saying he had mentioned the idea only as a topic for discussion, not as something he supported.
Any new tax could not move ahead without approval from all of the European Union's 25 national Parliaments, and a message tax in particular is not even at the stage of a formal proposal. Still, some politicians and technology experts say the debate could serve to highlight imbalances between casual users and Internet hogs.
West Europeans spent a total of about 15 billion euros, or $19 billion, sending 157 billion phone text messages in 2005, according to Thomas Husson, a Paris-based mobile phone analyst at Jupiter Research. International Data Corporation has estimated that the number of daily e-mails sent in 2006 — including the 40 percent that are spam — will exceed 60 billion a day worldwide, up from 31 billion in 2002.
Text messages in Europe range from about 0.10 euro to 0.15 euro each when charged individually; a set number of texts is also sometimes part of a monthly subscription. At that price, Mr. Lamassoure said, there is ample room to lower consumer prices and impose a tax of 0.01 euro a message.
E-mail messages — which are not currently counted on a per-unit basis like mobile phone text messages — would initially be more difficult to measure for taxation, Mr. Lamassoure said.
Mr. Lamassoure said he had learned that reaction from Internet users could be swift and harsh. "I appreciate their concern," he said, "but it is absurd to say that my ideas will kill the Internet."
Phone companies and Internet service providers, the companies that would be most affected by the proposed taxes, have reacted harshly as well.
"Taxation of e-mails or Internet flies in the face of principles the E.U. has been trying to support," said Richard Nash, secretary general of the European Internet Service Providers Association in Brussels, in reference to efforts by Europe to encourage the growth of technology. "This is one of the more bizarre initiatives, and it is unlikely to increase the popularity of the European Union if it succeeds."
Yet some in the technology industry say Internet costs are no longer divided equitably among users. Heavy users typically pay the same monthly price as light ones.
"The current system of payments for the Internet made sense when it all started, but the incentives are getting more and more misaligned," said Esther Dyson, a technology consultant.
Ms. Dyson said, for example, that users who consumed more network resources through downloading video should pay more than users who just viewed a few Web sites each day. For e-mail, Ms. Dyson advocates a system in which senders would pay on a graded scale to be certain their messages are delivered. Friends would not pay to send an e-mail, for example, but those who did not know the recipient, like companies sending promotional mail, would pay.
The result, Ms. Dyson said, would be to cut down on spam and make those who send unwanted e-mails bear the cost. "As it stands, the unfortunate recipients of spam pay to receive and store unwanted e-mails," she said. "It only makes sense to have those sending spam pay."
This concept provoked considerable debate in February, when AOL and Yahoo (http://www.nytimes.com/redirect/marketwatch/redirect.ctx?MW=http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/nyt-com/html-companyprofile.asp&symb=YHOO) said they had signed up with Goodmail, a Silicon Valley company that charges companies for sending bulk messages that are guaranteed to arrive in users' mailboxes. AOL and Yahoo have been guaranteeing delivery of Goodmail-sponsored messages since May.
"People have become very comfortable with e-mail being a free medium, so there was some surprise that companies would pay to send e-mails," said Richard Gingras, chief executive of Goodmail. "The difference is that consumers view our e-mail as more certain."
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/12/technology/12email.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
If the European Parliament shoves this tax on me, I will send them the payment in the form of horse dung. ;) :smug:
Email, mobile phone text message tax idea floated by European Parliament member sparks online 'furor'
06/11/2006 @ 8:51 pm
Filed by RAW STORY
A 'furor' has broken out in Europe after a European Parliament member suggested that emails and mobil phone text messages could be taxed, according to a story set for Monday's edition of The New York Times RAW STORY has learned.
Excerpts from the article written by Thomas Crampton:
#
A French member of the European Parliament, Alain Lamassoure, recently uttered the dreaded T-word -- taxes -- in connection with e-mail and mobile phone text messages, and in so doing earned the wrath of the Internet generation.
No matter how remote the possibility may be -- or how useful such taxes might be in financing the European Union budget -- the mere mention of taxing messages was enough to ignite the blogosphere and industry lobbying groups.
Lamassoure raised the option of a Europewide tax on e-mail and text messages last month in a meeting on ways to finance the European Union's rising costs. As indignant missives filled the message board on Lamassoure's Web site, he distanced himself from the proposal, saying he had mentioned the idea only as a topic for discussion, not as something he supported.
Any new tax could not move ahead without approval from all of the European Union's 25 national legislatures, and a message tax in particular is not even at the stage of a formal proposal. Still, some politicians and technology experts say the debate could serve to highlight imbalances between casual users and Internet hogs.
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Email_mobile_phone_text_message_tax_0611.html
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/ads/spacer.gif
http://view.atdmt.com/ORG/view/nwyrkfxs0040000007org/direct;at.orgfxs00000890/01/
June 12, 2006
Idea for Electronic Message Tax Prompts Swift Outcry in Europe
By THOMAS CRAMPTON (http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=bylL&v1=THOMAS CRAMPTON&fdq=19960101&td=sysdate&sort=newest&ac=THOMAS CRAMPTON&inline=nyt-per), International Herald Tribune
PARIS, June 11 — A French member of the European Parliament (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/e/european_parliament/index.html?inline=nyt-org), Alain Lamassoure, recently uttered the dreaded T-word — taxes — in connection with e-mail and mobile phone text messages, and in so doing earned the wrath of the Internet generation.
No matter how remote the possibility may be — or how useful such taxes might be in financing the European Union (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/e/european_union/index.html?inline=nyt-org) budget — the mere mention of taxing messages was enough to ignite the blogosphere and industry lobbying groups.
Mr. Lamassoure raised the option of a Europewide tax on e-mail and text messages last month in a working group on ways to finance the European Union's rising costs. As indignant missives filled the message board on Mr. Lamassoure's Web site, he distanced himself from the proposal, saying he had mentioned the idea only as a topic for discussion, not as something he supported.
Any new tax could not move ahead without approval from all of the European Union's 25 national Parliaments, and a message tax in particular is not even at the stage of a formal proposal. Still, some politicians and technology experts say the debate could serve to highlight imbalances between casual users and Internet hogs.
West Europeans spent a total of about 15 billion euros, or $19 billion, sending 157 billion phone text messages in 2005, according to Thomas Husson, a Paris-based mobile phone analyst at Jupiter Research. International Data Corporation has estimated that the number of daily e-mails sent in 2006 — including the 40 percent that are spam — will exceed 60 billion a day worldwide, up from 31 billion in 2002.
Text messages in Europe range from about 0.10 euro to 0.15 euro each when charged individually; a set number of texts is also sometimes part of a monthly subscription. At that price, Mr. Lamassoure said, there is ample room to lower consumer prices and impose a tax of 0.01 euro a message.
E-mail messages — which are not currently counted on a per-unit basis like mobile phone text messages — would initially be more difficult to measure for taxation, Mr. Lamassoure said.
Mr. Lamassoure said he had learned that reaction from Internet users could be swift and harsh. "I appreciate their concern," he said, "but it is absurd to say that my ideas will kill the Internet."
Phone companies and Internet service providers, the companies that would be most affected by the proposed taxes, have reacted harshly as well.
"Taxation of e-mails or Internet flies in the face of principles the E.U. has been trying to support," said Richard Nash, secretary general of the European Internet Service Providers Association in Brussels, in reference to efforts by Europe to encourage the growth of technology. "This is one of the more bizarre initiatives, and it is unlikely to increase the popularity of the European Union if it succeeds."
Yet some in the technology industry say Internet costs are no longer divided equitably among users. Heavy users typically pay the same monthly price as light ones.
"The current system of payments for the Internet made sense when it all started, but the incentives are getting more and more misaligned," said Esther Dyson, a technology consultant.
Ms. Dyson said, for example, that users who consumed more network resources through downloading video should pay more than users who just viewed a few Web sites each day. For e-mail, Ms. Dyson advocates a system in which senders would pay on a graded scale to be certain their messages are delivered. Friends would not pay to send an e-mail, for example, but those who did not know the recipient, like companies sending promotional mail, would pay.
The result, Ms. Dyson said, would be to cut down on spam and make those who send unwanted e-mails bear the cost. "As it stands, the unfortunate recipients of spam pay to receive and store unwanted e-mails," she said. "It only makes sense to have those sending spam pay."
This concept provoked considerable debate in February, when AOL and Yahoo (http://www.nytimes.com/redirect/marketwatch/redirect.ctx?MW=http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/nyt-com/html-companyprofile.asp&symb=YHOO) said they had signed up with Goodmail, a Silicon Valley company that charges companies for sending bulk messages that are guaranteed to arrive in users' mailboxes. AOL and Yahoo have been guaranteeing delivery of Goodmail-sponsored messages since May.
"People have become very comfortable with e-mail being a free medium, so there was some surprise that companies would pay to send e-mails," said Richard Gingras, chief executive of Goodmail. "The difference is that consumers view our e-mail as more certain."
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/12/technology/12email.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
If the European Parliament shoves this tax on me, I will send them the payment in the form of horse dung. ;) :smug: