FCC approves new Internet phone taxes

ZDNet ^ | June 21, 2006 | Anne Broache

[TheBattman]

There are further links for two more pages of the story.

I never cease to be amazed at how the government will do ANYTHING to get in our pocketbooks. The Universal Service Fund is the biggest crock. As a member of the technology committee at school, I see first hand how the E-rate system works - and it's not really very fair - nor effective. And lets talk about accountability - where do the billions of dollars go that are paid into the program? If your school or public institution wants funding through E-rate, you have to go through an analasys that gives you a rating - a percentage that you are eligible for. Say if they give you a 60 - that means that you are eligible for the program to pay 60% of your technology needs. Our school has been anywhere from 70-88% in the last several years - and we received zero funding - because they start at the top (say those eligible for 100% or close to it) and usually run out of money (so they claim) before they get down to those who qualify for 85 or 80% funding.

I have seen some amazing technology labs put into schools with super-high percentages of minorities and poor neighborhoods - and the equipment is either stolen or broken within a year, while schools who actually could/would put the technology to work - and qualify for significant funding but never see funding - get nothing.

Just another reason the government (particularly federal) should not be in the education business - such wasteful funding and misuse of money.

[Red Badger]

THAT'S TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!.............

[misterrob]

I suppose it's only fair that everyone has to pay instead of just one group but the Universal Service fund is mandated socialism. For people who CHOOSE to live in rural areas they get their phone service subsidized by other people. And before all the hill billies start jumping on my ass, the cost of deploying phone service in a congested area is cheaper than having to wire houses in sparse areas and haul the phone traffic over facilities.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Did I miss something or does the FCC now share constitutional authority with Congress to levy federal taxes? I must have been asleep that day in government class...

[Tzimisce]

Pay your taxes. :) Millions of non paying illegals need the money. :)

[poobear]

"Certainly we're concerned whenever consumers are forced to pay higher government taxes or fees..."

Apparently not THAT concerned! Well, this didn't take long. Have Internet service for just under a year. I was wondering how long I could avoid algores rural tax for the poooor.

[Prodn2000]

More specifically, all bills(laws) regarding taxation must originate in the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives.

[SouthernBoyupNorth]

and this surprises you ? You ain't been paying attention.

[plain talk]

Well we should either scrap the fund altogether or make sure all voice carriers are treated fairly and no free rides. So at least this deals with the fairness aspect. It's up to all citizens to demand an accounting of how this money is being spent though.

[ShadowAce]

[Red Badger]

It seems to be unconstitutional IMHO........

[Doohickey]

Bang. You nailed it. WHY do unelected bureaucrats have the authority to levy taxes?

[Red Badger]

Congress apparently, 70 years ago set this thing up and the FCC has been doing it ever since.........

[DoughtyOne]

My phone bill has between ten and twenty different taxes listed on it. That's just my land line. My cellular bill has more.

It would be a shame to see a service avoid some of those taxes... NOT!

[Buckeye McFrog]

is this something separate then from the "Gore Tax"?
That one was purely a bureaucracy-imposed fee as far as I understood it.

[Red Badger]

I think the "Gore-tax" was an increase of the fees normally assigned to this monstrosity.....

[gondramB]

>>THAT'S TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!.............<<


It certainly suck. And it shows the government's continuing lack of understanding of the Internet.

I recently considered getting a land line - the taxes alone totaled more than the $10 a month I pay for VoiceOverIP.

but its not taxation without representation, congress passed the law that lets them do this and we, the people, have, unfortunately, elected this congress.

Let's just be glad Nancy Pelosi isn't running things, yet.

[sportutegrl]

Hey, I have an LLBean jacket made out of Gore Tax.

(That's Gore-tex you idiot.)

[The Great RJ]

... subsidizes telephone service in rural and low-income areas....

So the 16 people living in West Waterpump, SD sharing 3 phones get subsidized service off my dime. The same rational could be applied to coffee shops. The people living in rural and low income areas are deprived of lattes and so the government should subsize the building of Starbucks and other similar establishments in these areas through taxing everyone else who has a coffee shop.

[Dead Corpse]

No big deal. Other organizations, like the BATFE, have been arbitrarily changing their defintions to include ever more things for decades.

You guys are just now waking up to this fact? Some of us have been saying for years that the FedGov is completely off its hook.

Question is now... what are we going to do about it? Kinda hard to throw an IP address into Boston Harbor...