Fergie's Tech Blog

Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin Tax

Randy Dotinga writes in Wired News:

When a group of Democrats in Congress floated the idea of a whopping 25 percent tax on online porn last week, industry critics predictably pounced, calling the proposal unconstitutional. Legal issues aside, there's another possible roadblock: the religious right.

For one thing, the proposed legislation -- the Internet Safety and Child Protection Act of 2005 -- is a product of self-described moderate Democrats, with no bipartisan support. Republicans may be wary of being overshadowed by the minority party on a hot-button issue. Conservatives could also balk at the idea of potentially making hundreds of millions of dollars off the internet's bounty of X-rated material.

"We'd not necessarily be pleased if the U.S. gets into what some people would call a 'sin tax,'" said Rick Schatz, president of the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families, a religious advocacy group. "There would be the concern that the government would change its focus to tax pornographic materials rather than control production and distribution."

posted by Fergie @ 8/08/2005 06:26:00 AM