The libertarian panic is amusing. There's nothing inherently wrong with taxing internet traffic, unless you believe tax itself is wrong. Virtually everything that goes into providing internet services gets taxed, so why should internet traffic itself be sacred?
Of course it is still a Very Bad Idea(TM) in terms of economic and social impact versus benefits. And of course in the context of a totally corrupt country like Hungary there is a distasteful hidden agenda behind it.
But besides being counterproductive, tax on internet traffic is just "meh". We just don't want to pay tax on our stuff.
Would you say that 501.3c's are a bad idea? If not, they you have to agree that shielding certain activities from taxes is in the best interest for society. So why do you think increasing the barrier to entry for a society to communicate, create, discuss is positive?
Of course it is still a Very Bad Idea(TM) in terms of economic and social impact versus benefits. And of course in the context of a totally corrupt country like Hungary there is a distasteful hidden agenda behind it.
But besides being counterproductive, tax on internet traffic is just "meh". We just don't want to pay tax on our stuff.