[governance] France Proposes an Internet Tax

[Koven Ronald]

As an aside I'm wondering if we as a group might not want to try to avoid specialized jargon and acronyms.  I know that I'm guilty of this as well from time to time but we need to recognize that we are a multi-lingual, multi-cultural group with a lot of people whose first language isn't Tech, International Relations, International Trade and that's apart from those who aren't able to communicate here in their other first languages :)
+ 1  with feeling!



-----Original Message-----
From: michael gurstein <gurstein at gmail.com>
To: 'William Drake' <william.drake at uzh.ch>; governance <governance at lists.igcaucus.org>
Sent: Wed, Jan 23, 2013 5:34 pm
Subject: RE: [governance] France Proposes an Internet Tax



Thanks Bill, also very informative…
 
As an aside I'm wondering if we as a group might not want to try to avoid specialized jargon and acronyms.  I know that I'm guilty of this as well from time to time but we need to recognize that we are a multi-lingual, multi-cultural group with a lot of people whose first language isn't Tech, International Relations, International Trade and that's apart from those who aren't able to communicate here in their other first languages :)
 
M
 

From: William Drake [mailto:william.drake at uzh.ch] 
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2013 5:30 AM
To: governance at lists.igcaucus.org; michael gurstein
Subject: Re: [governance] France Proposes an Internet Tax

 
Hi Mike

 

The GATS has 15 General Obligations and Disciplines (GODs).  Absent waivers or other limitations, the key GODs of MFN and national treatment apply to their scheduled services, and the EC schedule is quite liberalizing and covers information services, which presumably includes the targeted "over the top" services.  If instead you wanted to argue for a narrowly content-based categorization, I've not looked at it in a decade but the EC schedule is probably more restrictive regarding advertising services; however, in this it's probably typical in not being reflective of contemporary web-based transactions like what Google, FB etc. are up to (could look on the WTO site). And of course, one could debate whether that simple category would suffice here.  

 

In any event, despite all the intensive debate and rule making of the 1990s, com ministries don't generally appear to be all that attentive to the GATS, at least until the national trade ministries call and tell them there's a complaint etc.  I've not detected much attention to it in the ITU in some time, and certainly did not hear anyone talk about it or suggest it mattered to what they were proposing in Dubai.

 

Bill

 

On Jan 22, 2013, at 9:35 PM, michael gurstein <gurstein at gmail.com> wrote:

 

Bill I'm very curious as to the specifics of your assertion below.

 

Could you provide?

 

Tks,

 

M

 


From: governance-request at lists.igcaucus.org [mailto:governance-request at lists.igcaucus.org] On Behalf Of William Drake
Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2013 12:23 PM
To: governance at lists.igcaucus.org; Nick Ashton-Hart
Subject: Re: [governance] France Proposes an Internet Tax


 

 


On Jan 22, 2013, at 9:18 PM, Nick Ashton-Hart <nashton at ccianet.org> wrote:


 

It would not be possible for a measure  to target foreign companies only - that would breach France's WTO obligations (and that of many other countries were they to try to do the same thing).


 


A small problem that seemed to receive zero discussion among the proponents in Dubai

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