New Net taxes could arrive in November

NEW NET TAXES COULD ARRIVE IN NOVEMBER
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Anne Broache]
Americans might pay more for DSL and cable modem bills starting November 1, thanks to politicians in the U.S. Congress who have yet to extend a federal moratorium limiting taxes on those services. At the moment, a handful of bills in both chambers of Congress propose competing approaches, ranging from making the moratorium permanent to extending it for another four years. Earlier this summer, supporters and opponents of a permanent ban indicated they had reached a compromise that would involve extending the ban for another finite period of time and redefining the concept of Internet access to close perceived loopholes. But no votes have happened, and the proposals are still stuck in the quagmire of congressional subcommittees. The process is being held up because "there are some issues that probably don't belong in this bill that have sort of arisen," Michone Johnson, counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary subcommittee, said on Friday. The subcommittee has control over when a preliminary vote would occur on bills in that chamber. Johnson, who spoke at an event here sponsored by the Federal Communications Bar Association, said subcommittee chairwoman Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) was still "reviewing" a compromise draft. Admitting surprise that action hadn't occurred before now, she said she hoped a new bill would emerge "weeks before the deadline."
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