ICANN imposes $2 internet tax

The Register ^ | March 31st 2005 | Kieren McCarthy

[freedumb2003]

I am unclear on the semantic difference.

It is very, mvery simple. A tax is assessed by a government. A fee is assessed by a non-government.

Even if ICANN is a quasi-public entity, it cannot tax.

If you don't know the difference you may have some big problems understanding this site.

[vbmoneyspender]

Even if ICANN is a quasi-public entity, it cannot tax.

Is that $2 payment voluntary or not? And I'll repeat my second question to you -- whatever you want to call the $2 payment, isn't the result the same?

[freedumb2003]

And I'll repeat my second question to you -- whatever you want to call the $2 payment, isn't the result the same?

You could say that about anything. The difference is the reason for it, how it is collected (governments do it at the point of a gun).

A non-profit monopoly which assesses a fee usually has to prove the need. Governments just say "gimme."

Yes, it costs 2 bucks more -- but in theory that goes back into the organization to support what it is you paid for. A tax just dissapears.

If it is a tax, you can petition the government. If it is a fee, you must petition the organization.

BIG difference.

[vbmoneyspender]

A non-profit monopoly which assesses a fee usually has to prove the need. Governments just say "gimme."

The gimme part is what is going on here.

Now, here is how Black's Law defines a fee: "A recompense for an official or professional service or a charge or emolument or compensation for a particular act or service." And here is how Black's Law defines a tax as follows: "any contribution imposed by government upon individuals, for the use and service of the state, whether under the name of toll, tribute, tallage, gabel, impost, duty, custom, excise, subsidy, aid, supply, or other name."

So, however you want to define what ICANN is charging, the point is that ICANN is charging $2 for doing little or nothing and is trying to make it so that you have no choice but to pay the $2 if you want to obtain one of the effected domains through a private-enterprise registrar. That sure sounds like a tax to me as opposed to a fee, but whatever you want to call it, the fact remains that ICANN is getting $2 for doing little or nothing.

[Capt. Tom]

Hmm, well, I suppose that's possible. But you'd have to have a Web host that will assign you an IP address, without having DNS routing for a domain name. Good luck getting that to happen.

You control where your domain name is pointed not the web host.You can have more than one webhost. If one has a static IP address it will be in numerical form.

You can go to it by the numbers or the domain name . If it is a dynamic IP web site you may need a domain name.

Here is an example. Go to my website at http://64.226.234.31/ note the date is March 24.

Go to my domain name newenglandsharks.com note the date is different March 25. Thats because they are two different web hosts.

Domain names are just much easier to remember. - Tom