ACEIZE

Michael Enzi, of Wyoming, is one of America's esteemed Senator's pushing to tax the internet. Sales Taxes, Access Taxes, and email tax? Evidently the US Senate is tired of the Internet stealing revenue from local governments. You terrible internet users!

The CNet article explains that this isn't the first time such legislation has been proposed, however this is the first time that a Democratic Majority has been seated in congress to view the proposal. From the article, "the political dynamic appears to have shifted in favor of the pro-tax advocates and their allies on Capitol Hill."

The big boys of the internet are still battling this legislation; eBay, Yahoo, and Electronic Retailing Association as part of the Net Choice Coalition.

As a current online retailer of fine automotive accessories (but only for about 5 more days), I think that these taxation laws will dramatically raise the barriers to entry into the online marketplace. This doesn't just mean that your 12 year old sister will no longer be able to startup an online store. It means that many small companies with niche products or customers will not be able to justify the costs of getting started in an online business. The end result of this could be less diversity on the web.