"SENATE OKS FOUR-YEAR BAN ON NET ACCESS TAX"

By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
April 29, 2004, 5:07 PM PDT

The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to renew a four-year ban on taxes on Internet connections such as DSL and cable modems instead of a competing plan that would have made a moratorium permanent.

By a 93-3 vote, the Senate adopted a compromise proposal favored by state governments, which argued that a perpetual ban would deprive municipalities of vital tax revenue and amount to an unfair subsidy for telecommunications companies. (full article)