<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"><base href="x-msg://1839/"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Well, if we are going for world peace, then that's a whole different story, count me in! <div><div><br></div><div>;)</div><div><br></div><div><div><div>On 26 Jan 2013, at 18:23, "Dr. Alejandro Pisanty Baruch" <<a href="mailto:apisan@unam.mx">apisan@unam.mx</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="auto" fpstyle="1" ocsi="0" style="font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt; ">Nick,<div><br></div><div>"<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; ">Folks, is tax policy really what people are interested in having an effect on in the IGC list? Is this a battle you really want to enter into, given the very real threats the open Internet faces today?"</span></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">And world peace.</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Alejandro Pisanty</font></div><div><div><br><div> <br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px; "><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px; "><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; "><font size="2" face="Courier New">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - <br> Dr. Alejandro Pisanty<br>Facultad de Química UNAM</font></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="widows: 2; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; border-collapse: separate; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; "><font size="2" face="Courier New">Av. Universidad 3000, 04510 Mexico DF Mexico</font></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="widows: 2; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; border-collapse: separate; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; "><font size="2" face="Courier New"></font></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="widows: 2; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; border-collapse: separate; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; "><font size="2" face="Courier New"></font></span></span> <br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="widows: 2; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; border-collapse: separate; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; "><font size="2" face="Courier New"><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="widows: 2; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; border-collapse: separate; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; "><font size="2" face="Courier New">+52-1-5541444475 FROM ABROAD</font></span></span></p></font><p><font size="2" face="Courier New"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="widows: 2; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; border-collapse: separate; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; "><font size="2" face="Courier New">+525541444475 DESDE MÉXICO<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></font></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="widows: 2; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; border-collapse: separate; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; "><font size="2" face="Courier New">SMS +525541444475<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></font></span></span><br>Blog:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://pisanty.blogspot.com">http://pisanty.blogspot.com</a><br>LinkedIn:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/pisanty">http://www.linkedin.com/in/pisanty</a><br>Unete al grupo UNAM en LinkedIn,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/22285/4A106C0C8614">http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/22285/4A106C0C8614</a><br>Twitter:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://twitter.com/apisanty">http://twitter.com/apisanty</a><br>---->> Unete a ISOC Mexico,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.isoc.org">http://www.isoc.org</a><br>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . </font></p></span></span></div></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; "><hr tabindex="-1"><div id="divRpF849836" style="direction: ltr; "><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><b>Desde:</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="mailto:governance-request@lists.igcaucus.org">governance-request@lists.igcaucus.org</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>[<a href="mailto:governance-request@lists.igcaucus.org">governance-request@lists.igcaucus.org</a>] en nombre de Nick Ashton-Hart [<a href="mailto:nashton@ccianet.org">nashton@ccianet.org</a>]<br><b>Enviado el:</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>sábado, 26 de enero de 2013 02:35<br><b>Hasta:</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="mailto:governance@lists.igcaucus.org">governance@lists.igcaucus.org</a>; Guru गुरु<br><b>Asunto:</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Re: [governance] Facebook spent $4 million to lobby U.S. lawmakers in 2012<br></font><br></div><div></div><div><div>Guru said:</div><div><br></div><div><span>The scandalously low effective tax rates of the IT transnationals can also be seen as some kind of implicit subsidy ... and measures/experiments like that of the French Govt are required to help correct this situation - by reducing the lobbying power of these corporates and also getting the funding required by governments to support basic societal infrastructure, including soft infrastructure like public education and public health.. </span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>My reply:</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>The rates being paid by IT companies are not different than other types of companies. For example, I believe GE paid effectively 14% tax globally last year. Corporate tax rates overall do not differentiate by sector - though, of course, some vertical markets do get exemptions and credits designed to encourage certain activities by them.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>If you believe that companies should pay more, that's fine - but to suggest that IT companies are particularly bad in some way does a disservice, I think, to the overall objective which many seek: reforming the tax system so that companies, in general, pay a larger share of tax.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>This is, by the way, extremely complex and there are powerful incentives for countries to incentivise FDI by, among other measures, favourable tax regimes. It will be incredibly difficult to get enough countries that are desirable markets for industry to sign up to a broad range of measures to synchronise taxes to produce the desired end - the incentives to attract FDI are simply very powerful.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>What the French are proposing (not for the first time) is not going to help anything; it is soapbox policy, designed for an internal audience of French people. Like the 75% tax on wealthy individuals they propose, it wouldn't raise enough money to solve France's real deficit issues; it would just make France even less competitive an economy than it already is.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Folks, is tax policy really what people are interested in having an effect on in the IGC list? Is this a battle you really want to enter into, given the very real threats the open Internet faces today?<br></span><br><div>-- </div><div>Regards,</div><div> </div><div>Nick Ashton-Hart</div><div><br></div><div><b>Need to meet with me? Schedule the time that suits us both here: <a href="http://meetme.so/nashton" target="_blank">http://meetme.so/nashton</a></b></div><div><br></div><div><span>Sent from my one of my handheld thingies, please excuse linguistic mangling.</span></div></div><div><br>On 26 Jan 2013, at 04:49, "Guru गुरु" <<a href="mailto:Guru@itforchange.net" target="_blank">Guru@itforchange.net</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite">The scandalously low effective tax rates of the IT transnationals can also be seen as some kind of implicit subsidy ... and measures/experiments like that of the French Govt are required to help correct this situation - by reducing the lobbying power of these corporates and also getting the funding required by governments to support basic societal infrastructure, including soft infrastructure like public education and public health..</blockquote></div></div></div></div>____________________________________________________________<br>You received this message as a subscriber on the list:<br> <a href="mailto:governance@lists.igcaucus.org">governance@lists.igcaucus.org</a><br>To be removed from the list, visit:<br> <a href="http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing">http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing</a><br><br>For all other list information and functions, see:<br> <a href="http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/governance">http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/governance</a><br>To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:<br> <a href="http://www.igcaucus.org/">http://www.igcaucus.org/</a><br><br>Translate this email:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://translate.google.com/translate_t">http://translate.google.com/translate_t</a><br></div></blockquote></div><br></div></div></body></html>