Senate Votes for a 4 Year Internet Tax Ban

---The Senate has voted to restore the internet connection tax ban for another four years, not quite the permanent ban, which was approved by the House.
-- In 1998, the state and local taxes on the internet connection services were banned. The ban was ineffective while lawmakers tried to rewrite it to cover wireless and fast connections, usually called broadband. The Senate Thursday voted for a new 4 year one 93-3.
---According to Arizona’s John McCain, it is a “pro-consumer, pro-innovation and pro-technology bill.” The ban did not apply to local and state taxes on Voice Over Internet Protocol, which allows people to make phone calls over the internet. States that had already began taxing internet connections before the 1998 ban are allowed to still collect taxes on them, but the Senate voted 59-37 to put down a proposal that would have allowed states to continue taxing DSL connections after the 1998 internet tax ban, which argued that because DSL is delivered through a phone line could be treated like telephone service. The 17 states with DSL taxes have 2 years to phase them out.
---Those senators voting against the Senate bill were three Democrats…but that’s ok.
---This could make DSL internet access cheaper, in turn causing cable companies to have more competitive pricing and thus, lowering prices for both services, it could also allow the expansion of high speed internet access to less populated areas, as it will be more affordable.