Hungary fee freezes on the Internet – Público.pt

                 

                         
                     

                 

 
                         

A week after being announced the creation of a tax on the use of the Internet, which led to protests in the streets of Budapest, the Hungarian prime minister admitted that the way the law is written to prevent this please force and announced changes to the text.

                     

                          In a rare concession since coming to power in 2010, Viktor Orbán have been sensitive to the pressure of thousands of Hungarians since Sunday have come to the streets to condemn the imposition of a tax on Internet amounting to 150 guilders (about 50 cents) per gigabyte transferred, are downloads or uploads . Also the criticism that came from the European Union, through the Commissioner for Neelie Kroes Digital Agenda, said that the measure “is not a smart idea,” may have contributed to the decline of Orbán.

On Friday, in remarks to public radio Kossuth, the Hungarian head of government said that “if the people disagree not only as regards [the rate] irrational”, then the application of a tax provided for in the Budget State for 2015 “should not be made under these circumstances.” “The text of the tax should be modified. It should be removed and not have to deal with it now,” he said.

Viktor Orbán also announced the holding of a national referendum on the use of Internet and financial issues associated with them. “It is necessary to determine where does the huge profit of Internet services and part of it could be kept in Hungary and channeled to the budget,” stressed the Prime Minister, which provided a plug-in state revenues of € 60 million per year with the application fee.

The members of the movement “100 000 against the tax the Internet”, who have organized protests in Budapest, responded to the words of Orbán with the announcement of a celebration for the evening of Friday. “This is the victory of the Hungarian people against an inept power. Orbán should not even think about restricting freedom of information. “

For are not already plans for what will happen next on the opposition side’s. The small step Orbán should not reach to prevent further protests against the government, accused of abuse of power, but the demonstrations will not be sufficient to leave the post of prime minister before the 2018 elections