France to tax *search engines*?

[Al.]

They claim they want to support film, music and journalism with such a tax. (Hmm, what does that sound like?) Suppose that this is Plan B after the rejection of the carbon tax.

EUobserver

[size=4]France considers tax on search engines[/size]

[size=1]LEIGH PHILLIPS
08.01.2010 @ 09:12 CET[/size]

The French government is considering taxing search engines such as Google and Yahoo and internet service providers as a way to support the production of music, films and journalism in the digital age.

A report commissioned by the country's culture ministry issued this week proposed a tax on online advertising that could then be put toward subsidies or vouchers for artistic and other cultural works.

Just one of 22 measures in the report, the levy is described by its authors as a "Google tax" but would also be applied to the likes of Yahoo, Microsoft and Facebook, as well as the telecommunications companies that hook up households and businesses to the internet.

The precise form and amount of the tax was not outlined, but the report's authors suggested that the tax be "reasonable" and could initially bring in around €30 million a year.

They hoped that such measures could be constituted not just in France, but across Europe. ...

[Wakeupcall]

Its a joke really... I cannot see Google putting up with a tax that will decrease its revenue and play havok with its bidding structure...

[Supermanpolitician]

"Considering a tax"....sounds like one nut bar said something and it ended up on the news wires. How would the French government impose this tax?

This idiocy is worthy of Mary White of the Greens.

[Clanrickard]

They claim they want to support film, music and journalism with such a tax.

The want to support French film, music and journalism.

[FutureTaoiseach]

They can just move their servers outside of France to avoid it.

[seabhcan]

France is really a land of mad taxes. They currently have a 'megabyte tax' that puts a e1.60 tax on blank DVDs. It means no-one buys blank dvds in france - everyone buys them online.

[Wakeupcall]

France is really a land of mad taxes. They currently have a 'megabyte tax' that puts a e1.60 tax on blank DVDs. It means no-one buys blank dvds in france - everyone buys them online.

A megabyte tax. THat is equally as pathetic.