France considers taxing Google and other Internet portals

[The Caped Cod]

Reporting from Paris - The French government is mulling a so-called Google tax that it said would help level the playing field between Internet portals that offer free content and the music, film and publishing industries that lost revenue partly because of it.

"The world of culture is not only turned upside-down but profoundly threatened by the development of the Internet, and we hope that our action doesn't intervene too late," music producer Patrick Zelnik told the French daily Liberation on Thursday.

Zelnik co-led a government-commissioned report, published this week, that outlines programs to encourage buying books, music and films online rather than viewing them for free.

In a speech Thursday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he supported key initiatives among the 22 recommended in the Zelnik report.

Though he did not specifically call for a tax on portals such as Google, Yahoo, AOL and Facebook, as the report recommends, Sarkozy said that "the possibly dominant position Google has acquired in the online ad market" should be officially investigated for any unfair practices.

The commission called for such an investigation and even blamed Google and other "American giants on the Internet" for presenting "Europe and its cultural industries" with challenges by failing to share online ad profits with authors of the content.

One solution, the report said, is a "reasonable" tax both on the ad revenue earned by providers such as Google and on telecommunication firms, amounting to "a justified compensation for the advantages . . . [they] were able to draw from the development and the illegal exchanges of files on the Internet."

The exact amount of the tax was not yet made clear, though the report estimates that the tax would generate nearly $30 million a year.

Google France's public affairs director, Olivier Esper, told Liberation that he hoped the government would "favor cooperation" and warned against "prolonging a path of opposition between the Internet world and the world of culture, for example, through the path of taxation."

France considers taxing Google and other Internet portals - latimes.com

A Google Tax, a good idea?

[The Caped Cod]

Another source

French President Nicolas Sarkozy Thursday made official he’s thinking about taxing foreign internet companies who do business in his country, an initiative colloquially referred to as “The Google Tax.”

Even though the notion of “doing business” and even “country” are increasingly hard to define in an global internet economy, taxing entities can always find a way to justify a levy on sellers and/or buyers, so this just can’t be laughed off by the potentially affected parties. Nations routinely place tariffs on imported goods to raise revenue as well as to protect local vendors. But these are bits that can be stopped at a “border.” Bytes are not so easily controlled — especially when the consumer sides with the provider and not the Tax Man.

France’s Sarkozy Uses Tired Media Playbook to Push ‘Google Tax’ | Epicenter | Wired.com

[Sync]

Not for me. If Google have a monopolistic position, we have procedures in the EU to address that. Google already legally pay their taxes for revenues generated in Europe. This is simply a case of attacking companies for being successful. If turnips from the US were selling extremly we'd see the French talking about a turnip tax to help protect French farmers.

"a justified compensation for the advantages . . . [they] were able to draw from the development and the illegal exchanges of files on the Internet."

Wow. This is like saying that because a certain area has an extremly high drugs business, local law abiding stores should pay more tax on the amount of Rizlas they sell. The international community still haven't gotten their heads around how to combat illegal sharing. Google et al haven't pushed or promoted those illegal exchanges however, and aren't to blame for the community's incompetence. Good luck trying to prove they have in court.

[Al.]

Thanks for the duplicate thread. I already posted on this matter.

The blah-blah over "illegal sharing" is reminiscent of when vinyl records had "Home Taping Is Killing Music" printed on the inner sleeve, with a big "X" through a graphic representation of a compact cassette tape. It didn't stop record companies from profiting, and all this file sharing doesn't stop them from profiting now. Government intervention is solely for raising revenue for the government.

[The Caped Cod]

Thanks for the duplicate thread. I already posted on this matter.

The blah-blah over "illegal sharing" is reminiscent of when vinyl records had "Home Taping Is Killing Music" printed on the inner sleeve, with a big "X" through a graphic representation of a compact cassette tape. It didn't stop record companies from profiting, and all this file sharing doesn't stop them from profiting now. Government intervention is solely for raising revenue for the government.

Don't get your knickers in a twist, I didn't see your thread. If the Mods want to merge that's alright with me.
The conversation continues here
http://www.politics.ie/europe/121918...h-engines.html