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Ruling The Net

by Steve Gibson, Jul 10, 2001 8:12am PDT
Related Topics – Nerdy News

Considering nothing hugely exciting going on this morning how about we consider one of those hypothetical questions. Who should oversee the internet? A recent poll of internet users had some wacky responses to all kinds of questions about the net. If we were stuck having some kind of board of commissioners to make decisions about laws and the internet who would you want on that board? Oh here's some other stats

- 79 percent think the Internet makes their lives easier - 70 percent said they should question most of what they read online - 64 percent said the government should make laws to protect Web users - 59 percent don't know whom to contact with Internet problems - 53 percent of GOP Internet users favor taxation for online commerce - 49 percent see the Internet as 'impossible to govern' - 48 percent agree that the Internet 'will always be a risky place'
What do you think? Does this bother you?


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Comments

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53 Threads | 94 Comments
  • #86
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    By: jilt3d x
    Reply
    the internet was more fun before it become so commercialized.
    i almost never random browse any more because i have all this fucking pop-up bullshit and windows that don't close and shit the makes itself your home page.
    i liked it when it was still an accomplishment to find good mp3s online before 'mp3 for dummies' (napster) the AOL of mp3 serach came around.
    even though i disagree with the RIAA's reasons for killing napster, i am glad that they did. now my friends son (that little motherfuckker) isn't sharing 50 connections to his napster library any more thank christ. now i can play q3 again with less lag (werd)

    am i still typing? bah
    Jul 10, 2001 5:16pm PDT
  • #84
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    By: Vorlonesque x
    Reply
    Here's the thing...the US, DEFINATELY shouldn't be making laws regulating the 'net, when the 'net isn't just in the US. Hell, a good chunk of the internet falls under the category of "speech" and with the exception of child porn and stuff like that, we generally don't let the government regulate speech (well, this is slowly changing, sadly...but that's another topic altogether). Really, commerce and other non-speech related stuff are the only things the government could regulate...and then it really only has jurisdiction(sp?) on those sites/servers running in the US.
    Jul 10, 2001 3:59pm PDT
  • #69
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    By: scythide x
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    I do believe the taxes refer only to online commerce, not just to using the internet, which does kind of make sense. It's just like paying sales tax or something at a store. Of course, you'll say that we've always been able to order things from other states and skip the sales tax, but the internet makes it a whole lot easier. So it's not that unreasonable to assume that some people might want to tax these kinda of transactions.
    I personally don't want it taxed, but you have to realize that the days where everything on the internet is cheaper than regular stores is probably not going to last forever.
    Jul 10, 2001 11:14am PDT
  • #32
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    By: driller x
    Reply
    From CNN:

    Report: Most favor Web taxes
    But 60 percent said they did not mind if government involvement extended to taxation,

    From Markles site:
    The Markle Foundation's first major interest was in traditional social welfare.

    Need Taxes for that....

    Previous Markle grant recipients and partners include CNN, The Children's Television Workshop, Infonautics, Crossover Technologies, M.I.T., The RAND Corporation, Carnegie-Mellon University, and The Brookings Institution.

    So thats why it was newsworthy...

    Based on who they have given grants to, the Markle Foundation seems to favor liberal organizations, I am not suprised to see that their survey says 60% favor an Internet tax.
    Jul 10, 2001 9:11am PDT
  • #29
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    By: Goat Whore x
    Reply

    The second people talk about ruling or taxing the net is the day the net goes does the drain. No one knows what to do with the net and most are still confused by it, hell even the people that tried to make money at it learned their lesson fast. Sad thing is, it has not been taxed now only becasue the law makers are totally confused by it. Hell, Gore thought he invented it.

    Since it grew into something so big is better for the users. Because now is a little to late to instate some rules or taxes and have them make sense. If everyone just sits around and lets them do it now, you are nothing more then sheep.



    Jul 10, 2001 8:54am PDT