How do you even define social media? Is HN social media?
Uganda Bans VPNs to Prevent Users from Dodging Its New Social Media Tax
71–80 of 172 posts
Re: Uganda Bans VPNs to Prevent Users from Dodging Its New Social Media Tax
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
While we are at it, I still pay 1€ a minute for international calls (EU/Switzerland/USA) but I can talk for hours on WhatsApp, and FaceTime audio before I come close to 1GB data. Telecoms don’t charge in propositions for what they are providing (the cost + small markup for profit), they charge what they think customers are willing to pay, and since there is no real competition (at least in my country), they can do pr…
Weird. In france calls in in the eu and to the usa are free and unlimited on most contracts.
> Weird. In france calls in in the eu and to the usa are free and unlimited on most contracts.
That’s because we have really good phone contracts in France compared to the rest of the World, and also because mobile roaming charges are forbidden in the EU [1].
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roaming#Roaming_between_Europe...
Re: Uganda Bans VPNs to Prevent Users from Dodging Its New Social Media Tax
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
Taxing TV and phone is like taxing internet connectivity. While a bit odd, this is perfectly fine. The reason for this is that it does not discriminate content, but only care about the utility itself. Taxing social media is like taxing you for saying or hearing a specific word or sentence on the phone, or every time a certain show is broadcast on the TV. This is absurd, and a violation of free speech, as it discrimin…
> every time a certain show is broadcast on the TV. It seems like an obvious thing to tax the airing of a show on TV. I'm in favor of the taxation of every 30 minute slot on TV and Cable. This maybe makes sense to me because I'm a natural person (i.e. not a corporation), so everything I receive or produce or give away is taxed.
> I'm a natural person (i.e. not a corporation), so everything I receive or produce or give away is taxed.
This sounds like a dystopian nightmare. Where do you live?
Re: Uganda Bans VPNs to Prevent Users from Dodging Its New Social Media Tax
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
Taxing TV and phone is like taxing internet connectivity. While a bit odd, this is perfectly fine. The reason for this is that it does not discriminate content, but only care about the utility itself. Taxing social media is like taxing you for saying or hearing a specific word or sentence on the phone, or every time a certain show is broadcast on the TV. This is absurd, and a violation of free speech, as it discrimin…
> every time a certain show is broadcast on the TV. It seems like an obvious thing to tax the airing of a show on TV. I'm in favor of the taxation of every 30 minute slot on TV and Cable. This maybe makes sense to me because I'm a natural person (i.e. not a corporation), so everything I receive or produce or give away is taxed.
Ah, but then you're back at general taxation of a utility, not discriminatory taxation of certain content. I disagree wholeheartedly that it would make sense to have a government tax on TV slots, but it does not manipulate information exchange in any way.
Taxing social media would be more akin to placing a tax on documentaries, or all content containing a narrative by Morgan Freeman.
Re: Uganda Bans VPNs to Prevent Users from Dodging Its New Social Media Tax
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
While we are at it, I still pay 1€ a minute for international calls (EU/Switzerland/USA) but I can talk for hours on WhatsApp, and FaceTime audio before I come close to 1GB data. Telecoms don’t charge in propositions for what they are providing (the cost + small markup for profit), they charge what they think customers are willing to pay, and since there is no real competition (at least in my country), they can do pr…
Weird. In france calls in in the eu and to the usa are free and unlimited on most contracts.
That was one of my (only) favorite parts of my French cell plan. It’s a bit sad when the less developed world rapes their customers. For example, What’s App got big, especially in Latin America because up until a few years ago, a typical Mexican cell plan would include 10 included SMSes per month, then overages were something like 25 (US) cents. Carlos Slim got away with that nonsense because he had a government mandated monopoly when he first bought the network. That monopoly expires, but in the meantime, he was able to charge whatever he wanted. I used to be amazed that What’s App even needed to exist for SMS until I lived down there and discovered “unlimited” didn’t exist. What’s App in the US didn’t really have a compelling value prop because unlimited texts were such a staple. I prefer iMessage and FaceTime personally but good for What’s App for trying to innovate around the typically corrupt third world providers who enjoy monopoly status due to various structural and political issues in those countries.
Re: Uganda Bans VPNs to Prevent Users from Dodging Its New Social Media Tax
#76The reasons being used to ban encryption, including VPN seems to be increasingly trivial and arbitrary.
Re: Uganda Bans VPNs to Prevent Users from Dodging Its New Social Media Tax
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
> every time a certain show is broadcast on the TV. It seems like an obvious thing to tax the airing of a show on TV. I'm in favor of the taxation of every 30 minute slot on TV and Cable. This maybe makes sense to me because I'm a natural person (i.e. not a corporation), so everything I receive or produce or give away is taxed.
> I'm a natural person (i.e. not a corporation), so everything I receive or produce or give away is taxed. This sounds like a dystopian nightmare. Where do you live?
Well, with income tax and VAT, you end up paying tax of everything both ways. Private transactions are commonly exempt, but they commonly have a limit in size before that becomes taxed income or require a company to be registered that takes care of VAT.
Re: Uganda Bans VPNs to Prevent Users from Dodging Its New Social Media Tax
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
While we are at it, I still pay 1€ a minute for international calls (EU/Switzerland/USA) but I can talk for hours on WhatsApp, and FaceTime audio before I come close to 1GB data. Telecoms don’t charge in propositions for what they are providing (the cost + small markup for profit), they charge what they think customers are willing to pay, and since there is no real competition (at least in my country), they can do pr…
Weird. In france calls in in the eu and to the usa are free and unlimited on most contracts.
France has it good. Here's my anecdote: I got a SIM card from France for my last trip for 20 euros (30$) all included. That was enough for what I needed it for. Fast forward, I come back to Canada, and I still have that SIM card. I can now use it locally, with unlimited text, calls and 25 GB of data, without paying a cent more. MMS included.
My local phone contract is 70$ per months for 6 GB and a limited numbers of calls/text and no MMS. So I'm basically paying less than half roaming with my France SIM than with my local one, while having a better service. The real kicker? The roaming is happening on my local's provider network.
I don't care what your definition of insanity is, mine is Canadian telecoms.
Re: Uganda Bans VPNs to Prevent Users from Dodging Its New Social Media Tax
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
From what I've heard second-hand (my SO has a friend who frequently travels to China), they do actually block people's private one-off VPN servers quite effectively. Have a look at https://www.cs.tufts.edu/comp/116/archive/fall2016/ctang.pdf - it talks about GFW using machine learning with flow analysis to do this.
I took that class (comp 116) a few years ago! Just had some fun finding and rereading my own final paper from the archives (the one you linked to makes mine seem way less interesting). Ming is a really awesome and unique lecturer.
If I may ask, why pass the perfectly appropriate opportunity to... link it here?
Re: Uganda Bans VPNs to Prevent Users from Dodging Its New Social Media Tax
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
> every time a certain show is broadcast on the TV. It seems like an obvious thing to tax the airing of a show on TV. I'm in favor of the taxation of every 30 minute slot on TV and Cable. This maybe makes sense to me because I'm a natural person (i.e. not a corporation), so everything I receive or produce or give away is taxed.
> I'm a natural person (i.e. not a corporation), so everything I receive or produce or give away is taxed. This sounds like a dystopian nightmare. Where do you live?
Anywhere with an income tax + sales tax?