Aardvark Daily

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Out of date and out of ideas

A couple of interesting and related stories caught my eye yesterday.

They both clearly demonstrate just how the internet has invalidated so many concepts that have been a part of our business world for many, many decades.

The first one was the government's statement that they're going to look at ways to levy a "digital sales tax" on internet companies such as Google and Facebook -- in order that they pay their fair amount of tax here in New Zealand.

As most people know, many hi-tech companies based offshore and selling into New Zealand pay an incredibly low effective rate of tax. According to this story, Google paid just $393,000 tax on NZ revenues estimated to be in the hundreds of millions. Other sources have suggested that Apple and Facebook are similarly paying just a token amount of tax, if any at all.

Now, whilst I applaud the governments worthy goals, I fear that their methodology betrays their total lack of smarts and an unwillingness to accept that the internet has changed the world forever in ways they can not fix within the existing system.

Read more...

Forums are up!

Yes, people have been complaining about the lack of forums for months now so I finally got off my chuff and finished the transition to the new server and the commissioning of the new forums.

So, if you want to "have your say" then register at the new forums using the magic word Aardvarkroxs when asked for it.

Take a moment to introduce yourself to the rest of the Aardvark community and pretty shortly I'll be expanding the number of forums to encompass a number of areas that are regularly discussed on this site.

The contact form is not yet working (got to rejig the CGI scripts) but if anyone wants to email me they can send their communications to editor at this domain or PM me via the forums.

Oh yes, if anyone wants a bit of a plug then the sponsorship space is now up for grabs. Until someone is prepared to offer a donation for the use of this space, I'm happy to offer a free plug to anyone who wants to send me a suitable 150x150 graphic and link.

Stay tuned!

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