Jim Barksdale has stepped down from a panel established by the US Congress last year to look at the hot issue of internet taxation and in doing so has cleared the way for the committee to meet for the first time in June. The advisory commission on electronic commerce had been the subject of a lawsuit from the US Conference of Mayors and the National Association of Counties, who demanded that the committee feature more local government representatives and less industry members.
It was supposed to have eight from each with the rest coming from Congress, but it ended up with nine from industry and seven from local government. Fellow America Online Inc board member Bob Pittman remains on the commission. After negotiating with Senate majority leader Trent Lott, Barksdale has been replaced by Delna Jones, county commissioner of Washington County, Oregon. The 19- strong committee will now meet on June 21-22 in Williamsburg, Virginia and discuss the future of internet taxation once the three year moratorium imposed by the Internet Tax Freedom Act of 1998 expires in 2001 (10/09/98).
