Big Telecom’s Quest to Tax Big Tech for No Reason Will Cause Massive Internet Instability
upstart writes:
Big Telecom's Quest To Tax Big Tech For No Reason Will Cause Massive Internet Instability, Group Warns
For much of the last year, European telecom giants have been pushing for a tax on Big Tech company profits. They've tried desperately to dress it up as a reasonable adult policy proposal, but it's effectively just the same thing we saw during the U.S. net neutrality wars: telecom monopolies demanding other people pay them an additional troll toll - for no coherent reason.
To sell captured lawmakers on the idea, telecom giants have falsely claimed that Big Tech companies get a "free ride" on the Internet (just as they did during the U.S. net neutrality wars). To fix this problem they completely made up, Big Telecom argues Big Tech should be forced to help pay for the kind of broadband infrastructure upgrades the telecoms have routinely neglected for years.
It's a big, dumb, con. But yet again, telecom lobbyists have somehow convinced regulators that this blind cash grab is somehow sensible, adult policy, dubbing it their "sender pays" initiative. Dutifully, European Commission's industry chief Thierry Breton said last September he would launch a consultation on this "fair share" payment scheme in early 2023, ahead of any proposed legislation.
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.