If the courts overturn the FCC ruling <http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,52531,00.html> that the cost of cable modems and the like aren't taxable under franchise fees, the city of Minneapolis should dedicate all the proceeds from cable modems taxes and city taxes gained from DSL services (if there are any) to efforts to close the local digital divide and support local community content online (similar to the public access cable video model). The fact that city fees (in almost all cities) have not been formally diverted to meet growing Internet-related local public interest goals undermines our government rights to collect those fees in the first place.
Question for our city friends - how much does the city currently raise from its various telecommunication and cable taxes? Where does this money go? Steven Clift Carag Resident ^ ^ ^ ^ Steven L. Clift - W: http://www.publicus.net Minneapolis - - - E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Minnesota - - - - - T: +1.612.822.8667 USA - - - - - - - ICQ: 13789183 _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
