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Can You Tax The Internet?

By The Opte Project - Wikimedia Commons

The proposal for Maryland to become the first state to tax big internet platforms that track how you browse on the internet and target ads at you highlights how much money is made in digital ads. Computer Science Professor Avi Rubinsays the more targeted ads, the more money to be made. Opponents contend the tax would hit not just Google and Facebook, but also hurt Maryland businesses. Economist Paul Romer disagrees. He says those arguments are just a big smokescreen. 

For further reading, here is a Maryland Matters article on the digital tax. To read the NYT Op Ed by Paul Romer, visit this link.

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am.
Melissa Gerr is a Senior Producer for On the Record. She started in public media at Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul, Minn., where she is from, and then worked as a field producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland. She made the jump to audio-lover in Baltimore as a digital media editor at Mid-Atlantic Media and Laureate Education, Inc. and as a field producer for "Out of the Blocks." Her beat is typically the off-beat with an emphasis on science, culture and things that make you say, 'Wait, what?'