WebProNews

The moratorium on taxing Internet access will continue for another seven years, as the Senate reached a compromise days before the existing ban expired. State governments who are salivating at the prospect of smacking Americans with Internet access taxes will have to get back to trying that old, boring task of balancing budgets, something their constituents have to do all the time.

A Reuters report said Senate members who wanted a shorter ban, and those who wanted to make it permanent, reached the agreement ahead of the November 1st expiration of the 1998 ban.

The House of Representatives had already agreed on a compromise, but only for a four-year ban. Congress will have to reconcile its differences and send something along to the White House for President Bush to sign.

Without a ban in place, state would likely look to the millions of Internet-using people and businesses as a ready stream of new revenue to exploit. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) praised the extension, saying it "has helped the Internet expand and has protected entrepreneurs from burdensome taxes."