Mr. Speaker, the internet presents a minicul porportion of illegal
reproductions. The problem of illegal reproduction and distribution has been an
issue since Cassette recorders, Video recorders and photocopiers have been
available to the public. The internet is not a new medium but an extension of
the old. Owners of cassetter recorders and video recorders far outweight the
owners of computers with internet access. The is a need to address this issue as
a whole, and pointing directly to the internet is misleading. The Minister of
the Crown has also brought up an interesting problem of Online gambling. She has
maintained that this would result in a new generation of gamblers. Once again,
the Crown has used the internet as a scapegoat. Gambling problems which our
society faces today can be more attributed to recently barrages of Casino
openings.
Mr. Speaker, have you noticed how many Casinos have been built in Ontario
lately? How can we address the issue of gambling problems when the government is
creating them by building Casinos? The Crown has also proposed a taxing internet
commerce. The opposition concedes that tax revenue may be lowered due to online
purchases, but we must look at the bigger picture. Online sales or E-Commerce
has a great deal of upside for our economy, it creates more jobs and it gives
small companies the opportunity to reach the global market. By imposing a tax on
the internet would hurt the growth of E-Commerce and perhaps hurt the internet
and the economy. “Sales of merchandise on the web could plummet if consumers
were forced to pay sales taxes” According to Dr. Goolsbee an economic professor
at University of Chicago. Many of the companies that engage in commerce over the
Internet do not have to be physically located in the United States. If we impose
taxes that reduce their business, companies will move to locations that do not
tax them. Given the huge growth of Internet-related jobs that we are projected
to see in the next few years, any measure that would cause a loss of these jobs
would hurt the entire economy. We must remember that the internet is not a
broadcast or mass media, it is a bidrectional, point to point, global
communications network. Unlike the television, or print, offensive material will
not just pop up on the screen, the user has to make the attempt of searching for
these materials before they are to be displayed on the screen.
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