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Cities sue Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, claim they owe cable “franchise fees”:
Four cities in Indiana are suing Netflix and other video companies, claiming that online video providers and satellite-TV operators should have to pay the same franchise fees that cable companies pay for using local rights of way.
The lawsuit was filed against Netflix, Disney, Hulu, DirecTV, and Dish Network on August 4 in Indiana Commercial Court in Marion County. The cities of Indianapolis, Evansville, Valparaiso, and Fishers want the companies to pay the cable-franchise fees established in Indiana's Video Service Franchises (VSF) Act, which requires payments of 5 percent of gross revenue in each city.
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(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Friday August 21 2020, @02:16PM
The contention sure sounds like a VAT, but only on Internet activity. What's the gas tax in Indiana? Still 18 cents per gallon, like it has been since the early 1990s?
If anything, Indiana ought to be subsidizing Internet activity that materially reduces travel, and therefore wear and tear on infrastructure. Maybe Netflix and the rest should try a counter proposal. Set the gas tax to the percentage that 18 cents would have been back in 1993. Letting the oil companies off with a flat rate was an outrageous giveaway.
Really, this looks like sheer banditry. They're preying upon the weak. They won't take on Big Oil, but geeky tech looks like easy meat? Maybe there's also an element of anti-intellectualism in this lawsuit?