Four cities in Indiana are suing online streaming services, such as Netflix and Hulu. The lawsuit demands that those streaming services pay the same franchise fees to local governments that cable companies must pay.
The Northwest Indiana Times reports the class-action filed earlier this month argues that Disney, Netflix, Hulu, DirecTV, and DISH Network must pay a 5% franchise fee of gross revenue to the localities of where the customers live because of the use of internet equipment in the public right of way to transmit programming.
It was filed by Indianapolis, Valparaiso, Fishers, and Evansville.
To date, none of the defendants — Netflix, Disney, Hulu, DirectTV, and Dish Network — have registered as a franchise or paid the required fees to the plaintiffs — Valparaiso, Fishers, Indianapolis, and Evansville — or any of the 600 other Indiana units of local government potentially owed money, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also demands the companies be required to pay unpaid fees for past services and future fees that are required by law.
An estimate of how much money is owed statewide is not known.
The companies have not issued a response to the lawsuit.
2 comments
Hah. what the government will do to get more money …The public right of way that the services use is already payed for by the cable companies, This case has no merit and is just a blaring example of greed by municipalities. Also it is a glaring example of the government trying exert YET another double tax on the citizens and businesses that do business here. HINT THE CABLE AND PHONE COMPANIES ALREADY PAY FOR THOSE CABLE AND TOWER RIGHT OF WAYS and the government is basically trying to tax the electricity/signals traveling down the cable owned lines because the lines are beside the road
…hilarious…
if is was any of those providers i would refuse service to anyone in any of those regions and see how fast the idiots in those cities, which I’m guessing are more democrat crap holes, redraw that suite after there voters lose the Netflix. and lets not forget that this would basically be a tax on content not on service all those services provide contend not service ..so that would mean that PBS,CBS,ABC,FOX and the 100’s of other cable and web content providers would be liable also for this tax.
Watch out this is a slippy slope to the new and improved taxed to perdition internet. not to mention it is probably flat out illegal.