Taxing the superhighway.

The new Telecommunications Act is presenting state legislators and tax officials with some extra-knotty problems.

With the passage of the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the accelerated pace of innovation in the industry, the next few years may see a revolution in your work, homelife and entertainment.

You may be watching movies transmitted to your home by the phone company. Actually, "the" phone company may be an obsolete expression: You may be buying telephone service and Internet access from your cable television company, over the same coaxial cable that brings you ESPN and HBO. Or, you may go "wireless" altogether - for telephone, on-line computer services including Internet, paging and 200-plus television stations transmitting from around the globe.

For business there are similar implications, with stiff competition for services like telephone, data transmission and paging by companies that up until recently have been seen as distinct industries, s...

If you are already a vLex customer, Access Here