RE: Reed Elsevier Law suit.

["Hamaker, Chuck" <cahamake@email.uncc.edu>]

The Virgin Islands is used as a "port" for US Corporations to avoid us.
taxes on certain types of sales. McCain (Republican US Presidential
hopeful) has recently come out strongly against this.

A story in today's New York Times mentions this:
ABC's 

"This Week," Mr. McCain
          was asked if he supported a recent
          ruling by the World Trade
          Organization to eliminate foreign sales
          corporations, the off-shore
          subsidiaries that many United States
          companies set up to channel overseas
          sales through places like the Virgin
          Islands. 

          The United States does not tax sales
          made by those subsidiaries, nor does
          it impose duties when they transfer
          profits to their parent companies.
          Because of the provision, hundreds of
          United States companies, including
          Boeing, Microsoft and General
          Motors, avoided paying about $4
          billion in federal taxes last year.
          Boeing alone saved $130 million in
          1998. 
http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/022800wh-gop-mccain.html

So--I think our Australian colleagues' comment is right on the mark.

The Virgin Islands may well harbor some major international companies with
interests that  conflict with Reed Elsevier's interests. Though it would
certainly be interesting to know exactly who or what is suing them.
Anybody know--who can tell us?

Chuck Hamaker

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Hal Cain [SMTP:hal.cain@ormond.unimelb.edu.au]
> Sent:	Saturday, February 26, 2000 9:11 AM
> To:	liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
> Subject:	Re: Reed Elsevier Law suit.
> 
> All is not sweetness and light in the electronic information field!
> 
> I wonder about the Virgin Is. though; but could be that (if, as I think,
> it's a tax haven) then they could well be acting on behalf of another
> electronic info provider with its head office there.