SoylentNews

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Congress has voted to make permanent a federal law that prevents states or localities from taxing Internet access.

[...]

There's long been general agreement in Congress that taxing access to the Internet is a bad idea and shouldn't be allowed. But permanent consideration of the tax ban was held up by some lawmakers, including Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who wanted it to be passed together with the Marketplace Fairness Act, or MFA.

The MFA mandates that Americans must pay sales tax on all online purchases. It, too, has garnered majorities on both sides of the aisle, and a version was passed by the Senate in 2013—yet, it still hasn't become law. Durbin reportedly dropped his opposition to the access tax once Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) promised a vote on a new MFA later this year.

Source: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/02/congress-passes-permanent-ban-on-internet-access-taxes/

Original Submission