So it appears like the US Government wants to fuck up even further are already paltry broaband penetration in this country thanks to an expiring bill. Congress would pass a new bill in its place which would levy taxes on internet access for cable, dsl, and other various means of access the great WWW.

If the moratorium is allowed to expire, states would be allowed to levy discriminatory taxes on digital subscriber line, cable modem, wireless and even BlackBerry-type data services. First enacted in 1998 and renewed after some debate in 2004, the existing law prevents state and local governments from taxing “a service that enables users to access content, information, electronic mail or other services offered over the Internet.”

Each time the bill has come up for renewal, state and local officials have opposed making the ban permanent, arguing it’s best for the policy to stay flexible so states can re-evaluate whether collecting such taxes is necessary for their operations. So far, they’ve won over politicians on that front.

The bill is set to expire on November 1st, and if nothing is done in time we could see net taxes in place pretty quickly. The US already ranks on the lower end of the scale in terms of broadband penetration, speed and cost. Something like this could only hurt it further.

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