“Innovation, initiative and reach, the hallmarks of successful online businesses, should be encouraged,” Coffman said. “The [Internet commerce] tax proposals being advanced by New York’s Gov. Paterson are counterproductive. Don’t think for a minute that this is simply a tax on business. It’s naïve to think that the burden of these proposed taxes would be quickly passed on to the consumer. It would also be immensely difficult to police given that Internet services can emanate from anywhere."
One of the primary responsibilities of the task force would be to find ways to encourage more Internet purchases of goods, services, information and entertainment.
"This will put more people to work, many of them in well-paying jobs with a future," Coffman said.
Coffman plans to start by reaching out to other executives in the Internet content field — adult and mainstream alike — to propose a meeting.
Internet industry executives interested in participating in the task force should email taskforce@aebn.net.
