
U.N. could tax U.S.-based Web sites - voodoochilo
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57449375-83/u.n-could-tax-u.s.-based-web-sites-leaked-docs-show/
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conanite
From one of the linked documents:

 _Operating Agencies shall endeavour to provide sufficient telecommunications
facilities to meet requirements of and demand for international
telecommunication services. For this purpose, and to ensure an adequate return
on investment in high bandwidth infrastructures, operating agencies shall
negotiate commercial agreements to achieve a sustainable system of fair
compensation for telecommunications services and, where appropriate,
respecting the principle of sending party network pays_

What's the "sending party network pays" principle? I get that if I make a
phone call, I pay, not the receiver. But if someone in a village in Africa
consults google, _that_ person is the initiator, not google. So I'm not sure
what way around this is supposed to work.

Besides, each party is already paying for bandwidth on each end.

"operating agencies shall negotiate commercial agreements" - this doesn't
sound like "tax" (in that governments are not the beneficiaries), it sounds
like granting new powers to bandwidth providers. I'm guessing the T-word is
linkbait, even if the proposal is horrible anyway.

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conanite
Aha ... in the other (longer) linked document, the T-word is mentioned:

 _National authorities are free to impose taxes on all telecommunications
traffic, whether incoming or outgoing._

I don't know how to interpret this document, particularly as it's a work in
progress, and looks like the output of a human-powered diff process. But it's
hard to conclude that it specifically targets Google or Apple, or the U.S., or
even just websites. It's about telecommunications.

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tthomas48
It sounds like this is more of a tarrif issue attempting to balance trade
issues more than a straight tax. As such my hunch is this isn't going
anywhere. And isn't it that countries would be allowed by the UN to tax US
companies to fund network build-outs? That is VERY different from the UN
taxing anyone.

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loceng
Highly doubt this would just be about taxing U.S.-based websites. Clearly the
article is biased. Anyone know what the benefits of such a tax could bring?
Let's see the other side of the coin..

