Wisconsin governor seeks voluntary tax on downloads

"Voluntary tax" is pretty much an oxymoron if we've ever heard one, but that's not stopping Wisconsin's Democratic governor Jim Doyle from proposing just such an absurdity. He thinks Wisconsin's 5% state sales tax shouldn't be reserved just for actual, tangible items, but ought to apply to internet downloads as well (including music, ebooks,
photographs and other "finished artwork") — and that Wisconsin residents will pay the tax. Voluntarily. After the laughter subsided, we felt it our duty to inform Jim that this may not be the very best way to encourage electronic commerce. Good luck with that, though, and maybe you'll be able to snag two or three $1.04 tracks from the iTunes Music Store with the proceeds.