All too often elected officials make laws or regulations without considering their full economic effect. The two-year effort to pass the ITFA has been an exercise in prevention the goal is to keep electronic commerce free of excessive and unfair taxation. The House action encourages more commerce by creating a tax environment that does not penalize online commerce. However, the future of debate on Internet policy should be made in terms of liberty, freedom, and individual growth instead of simply in terms of dollars, trade or commerce. A vital effect of the legislation has to do with the commerce of free market economics, democratic principles, and information.
Information is liberty enhancing.
In 1989, many Chinese students stayed one step ahead of tyranny at Tiananmen with the help of cellular telephones. More recently, the Internet was the information lifeline that kept communication alive when the students and government forces of Indonesia clashed. The Internet and the development of electronic commerce present difficult policy questions in areas as diverse as tax policy, privacy, liability and telecommunications regulation. However, consumers will benefit as long as policymakers adhere to time-tested principles like consumer choice, deregulation and competition. As a result, the widespread dissemination of ideas that are necessary for advocates of democracy, human rights, and free markets will continue.