Australian Government Wants To Protect You From Online Shopping Scams
from the sounds-more-annoying-than-anything-else dept
It seems that the Australian government has decided they want to help protect their citizens from online shopping scams. However, I wonder a bit about their way of doing so. They're offering a freely downloadable software product that will annoy the hell out of you every time you try to make a purchase online by telling you about possible scams. It doesn't sound like the softwre actually detects if your specific purchase is likely to be fraudulent, but just gives you some sort of checklist of things to avoid - which you should probably knmow about already. I imagine that very few people will see any reason to install such a product, and most will find plenty of reasons to uninstall it pretty quickly.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Internet Tax
Since unregulated economic activity on the internet can't go on forever, web merchants will need to register their internet businesses and fill out mountains of paperwork, which will require even bigger government. Local and state jurisdictions may require their own paperwork to authorize internet activity.
It only makes sense to start taxing internet activity. Users should pay a 38 cent charge per email. A corporate internet tax charging 20% of revenues from internet-based order should cover such operating expenses.
Furthermore, widespread use of the internet requires responsible operation, so users will need to be licensed. Every state will create an IMA (Internet Monitoring Administration) to issue licenses, after users have undergone at least 100 hours of classroom training, 50 hours of hands-on instruction, and passed the written exam.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Internet Tax
User education and COMMON sense would be a cheaper and better alternative
Take a standard 56k connection which costs $25 a month
Do you really think ANYONE is going to pay 38 cents an email on top of that? your kidding yerself
In one day that would cost me more than i pay each month to my ISP? your a moron go back to school
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Internet Tax
You could say that driving just takes user education and common sense, but we know reality requires more than that. Driving is a privilege, not a right; why shouldn't the internet be the same?
"Take a standard 56k connection which costs $25 a month. Do you really think ANYONE is going to pay 38 cents an email on top of that? your kidding yerself In one day that would cost me more than i pay each month to my ISP?"
The internet did not come for free. Telecoms and government programs spent billions to expand infrastructure, and now suffer from lack of revenue. Auto insurance costs hundreds of dollars a month for many people, yet it is a requirement and people pay up. Perhaps it's just a matter of time before everyone will be required to purchase computer virus insurance, annual license renewal fees, environmental impact fees of $400/computer. Human psychology is such that when things are free, people use them irresponsibly. When things cost more, people take care of them better.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Internet Tax
As for your 0.38 email tax, that's silly. The current government requires that the postage rate be based on actual cost, and not much more. So how would you justify an email from my server to my friend's server costing 0.38? And how would you monitor such a transaction?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Internet Tax
I am serious.
"As for your 0.38 email tax, that's silly. The current government requires that the postage rate be based on actual cost, and not much more. So how would you justify an email from my server to my friend's server costing 0.38? And how would you monitor such a transaction?"
1. The government has spent billions of dollars to develop and maintain the internet.
2. Given the current state of lawlessness on the internet, government costs incurred by the internet, for law enforcement or other administration, will increase in the future.
3. Adding per-byte costs to internet transactions will discourage irresponsible use, such as spamming or music swapping.
4. Internet users should pay for the environmental costs of using the internet. Toxic chemicals from computer trash is becoming a serious environmental problem; chip manufacturing uses vast amounts of fresh water resources. Internet servers have to be kept on 24-7, increasing electricity usage and therefore environmental depletion.
5. Internet users should pay for the human costs of the internet; computers have caused increased medical problems such as lower back pain or carpal tunnel syndrome, burdening the health care system.
[ link to this | view in thread ]