With the ban on Internet access taxes set to expire November 1, Democrats and Republicans are still battling over whether to make a new ban permanent or temporary. While there's broad bipartisan support for a permanent tax ban, a select group of Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee appear to be derailing the process in favor of a shorter (probably four-year) ban.

The Internet Tax Freedom Act of 1997 restricted states from taxing all Internet access (from dial-up to DSL), with the exception of nearly a dozen states who were "grandfathered" and allowed to continue taxing access. As the act approached expiration in 2003, legislators began mulling over the idea of making the ban on Internet access taxes permanent.

The House of Representatives voted to approve a replacement proposal, the Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act (HR 49), which would not only make such tax bans permanent, but would also force 11 states to repeal existing taxes on access fees. While the original legislation expired, debate over HR 49 created a congressional quagmire that resulted in an extension that expires next month.

Now, in 2007, we face the likelihood of yet another temporary ban so we can do this all over again in a few years....