By extending this logic - then you would suggest we tax anyone
using Gmail, or anyone hosting their web site or email services in
another country? Gmail is also an "Over The Top" service.
WhatsApp hurts telecom companies - because telecom companies (mobile cell and fixed wire) made money from SMS's and Voice services. It hurts because WhatsApp works well and is innovative - you can use it (and many other similar services) to send Text, Pictures, Documents, Video, Voice Memo's and make voice calls. What you are perhaps suggesting is all innovation should be taxed?
Perhaps its time that the legacy telecom companies became more innovative themselves or simply provide the connectivity (and there is still lots of opportunity there). Voice and Text is just data. Data providers are taxed locally. Data usage is increasing so I presume Data companies are paying more and more tax.
As to abusive use (by any message conveying system) - humans will
continue to be "harmful" and unfortunately will choose the easiest
form of communications in order to group together - unless they
have no reason to do so. I've no idea how to change human nature
but I guess working on reasons for people to not become "harmful"
would be a valid step. Difficult.
_______________________________________________These messaging apps facilitate fake news, crime, foreign meddling (to subvert democracy), brainwashing and hate speech on a massive scale. We know this for a fact.
So as citizens and stakeholders in our country, we need to ask: what do we value more, is it things that improve peace, stability, economic development and democracy, OR, is it some utopian, unbounded notion of free speech and privacy that is disconnected from our contextual reality (e.g. protects criminals, malicious defamers and violence mongers in equal proportion as law abiding citizens)?
The companies running these uncontrolled messaging platforms will not be impacted if our country goes up in flames. They cost governments tons of money in maintaining internal security (especially during democratic transitions - sometimes to existential levels) yet they don't pay any taxes... and mark you, they are *billion dollar* companies! This also means that funds that ought to have bought, say, medicine to save lives gets diverted to fix an *imported problem* with no path to holding the parent company accountable for damage caused.
Gok needs to modernize our tax laws, which currently are based on the traditional "for profit" enterprise model and thus out of touch with Silicon Valley's "make losses by design" model. The basic assumption that entrepreneurship is a profit oriented endeavour does not hold for Silicon Valley VC subsidized companies. They are designed to operate as loss makers for decades (but still move *massive* amounts of financial resources at massive scale). This has the technical effect of *tax avoidance* because massive profits *are* still being made by the offshore VCs - which denies governments billions in taxes (despite imposing local burdens as illustrated above).
A smart government would create modernized laws to tax VC funded Silicon Valley companies e.g. on the basis of *funding rounds* and *valuations* because this is their *real* business i.e. its how the investors intend to make money from day one - and the primary reason they push for perpetual losses!
There should also be a turnover tax and VAT on online revenue earned in Kenya by foreign billion dollar internet companies (e.g. advertisement revenue and appstore revenue), to level the tax playing field for local businesses. Similar to what other countries like the UK are working on:
CA will obviously have a hard time monitoring and enforcing though, under the current traditional framework due to technical barriers (e.g. encryption) and also due to jurisdictional challenges.
So the other thing that CA really needs to do once the rules are set is to consider blocking non-compliant foreign apps completely at ISP level (especially now that political temperatures are cool and people and thinking clearly). Lets have local startups filling any gaps with copycat apps China-style.
To be clear, I support free speech and privacy. But I also support peace, stability, safe neighbourhoods, democracy, sovereignty and economic predictability!
A delicate balance is needed to maximise the rights of law abiding citizens while minimising the ability of those with evil intent to exploit basic rights in order to harm the innocent.
Good day.Patrick.
On Thursday, November 1, 2018, 11:00:44 PM GMT+3, Grace Githaiga via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
_______________________________________________Kenya is considering regulating online services such as WhatsApp and Skype in a radical move that could force the internet-based service providers to share data with the government.
The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) is in search of a consultant to study and determine how the so-called over-the-top services (OTTS) operated by groups such as Facebook, which runs WhatsApp, and Skype owner Microsoft, could be regulated.
Read on: https://www.nation.co.ke/business/Telcos-regulator-seeks-to-monitor-WhatsApp/996-4833020-fn9u7s/index.html
Best regards
Githaiga, Grace
Co-Convenor
Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet)
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