IP: More on Congress ratifies Illegal Internet Tax (was Re: Clinton

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

Date: Sat, 2 May 1998 12:05:39 -0400
From: Darrell Greenwood <darrell_greenwood@mindlink.net>


At 8:28 PM -0700 5/1/98, Dan Steinberg wrote:


>Gordon Cook wrote:
>>
>> At least Bode doesn't get rich from his ill advised suit..
>
>Don't be so sure.  There are still a few cards left to
>play.  For one thing, NSF's appeal leaves the door open for
>ongoing litigation unless they wake up and withdraw the
>appeal very quickly.  For another, Bode could (and probably
>will) challenge the ratification.


.. from http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,21722,00.html


                 Last night, the Senate approved a
                 "conference report"--a compromise
                 agreement between the House and
                 Senate--on the Emergency Supplemental
                 Appropriations Bill (H.R.3579). Among
                 its many provisions, such as $2.86
                 billion for defense and $2.6 billion
                 for disaster assistance, was the
                 retroactive approval of the domain
                 name registration tax. The Senate vote
                 was 88 to 11. The measure had
                 previously been approved by the House.


                 "I don't know of one senator who even
                 saw the language imposing the tax or
                 even knew about it," Sartori said. He
                 suggested that the provision was
                 actually inserted by congressional
                 staffers without telling their
                 bosses--something that occasionally
                 happens in Washington.


                 William Bode, the attorney for
                 opponents of the tax, said he will
                 review the legislative provision
                 carefully to determine whether it
                 satisfies "the strict standards for
                 ratification."


                 "As a general matter, Congress can
                 only ratify unconstitutional bills
                 through general bills, not
                 appropriation bills," Bode said.



--
Darrell Greenwood           mailto:Darrell_Greenwood@mindlink.net
Vancouver, BC               http://www.nyx.net/~dgreenw/