porn are on Playboy.com's forthcoming initial public offering... Now the Deputy Treasury Secretary is getting in on the Internet tax action - calling for Net taxes from states and localities within two years... And a Florida man gets bagged for bilking online auction customers. The Web Roundup never puts its lasso down...
NEW YORK - E-porn players looking to stake a claim on Wall Street will be waiting with baited breath on the results of Playboy.com's initial public offering next week. Underwritten by Credit Suisse First Boston, the online arm of softcore's grand old man debuts on the high-tech NASDAQ composite next week. Internet Entertainment Group's Seth Warshavsky is keeping a tight eye on the Playboy.com situation - he's wanted a crack at Wall Street for a long time.
But his own IPO plans were hamstrung last fall because of charges from former IEG employees involving double-billing and fraudulent credit charges - both of which accusations Warshavsky denies. The Playboy.com underwriting "validates that (e-porn) is a real industry, that there's real revenue," he tells U.S. News and World Report, whose cover story this week is an overview of Net porn hooked largely on the Playboy.com IPO. The magazine says porn still has a stereotype problem blocking it from a Wall Street toehold, as well as problems like those which hit Metro Global Media last year - that video and online porn giant was accused of false and misleading financial reports and of being run by a behind-the-scenes alleged mobster, charges Metro denies.
But U.S. News says some investors are changing their minds about porn - somewhat. "People are still buying Philip Morris, and I think a lot of people might say tobacco is worse than pornography," says financial planning firm head Joel Isaacson.
WASHINGTON - Deputy Treasury Secretary Stuart Eizenstat wants states and localities to develop simple sales taxes to even out the field between e-commerce and the brick and mortar retail world within two years. He told a Tax Executive Institute conference the goal should consider both kinds of businesses. For now, Net businesses are required only to pay a "use tax" - but most if not all e-commerce works tax free because sellers are not obliged to collect taxes from buyers in different localities. Net businesses say taxing the Net would block e-commerce's growth as it becomes one of the top drivers of American economic growth.
Eizenstat also wants any system to be inexpensive for business compliance and protective of consumer privacy. A moratorium on Internet sales taxes is in place through October 2001.
KEY LARGO - Here's looking at you, con: A Florida man scammed over $50,000 out of online auction buyers by putting up for bid items said to have been non-existent at eBay, Yahoo!, and other auction sites.
Charles Sweet is accused of auctioning fictional baseball cards, knives, computer equipment, and other items online, cashing checks from the high bidders but sending no merchandise. Authorities say his victims hailed from California, Nebraska, Illinois, Georgie, and Pennsylvania.
The scam was exposed after one victim e-mailed the Springfield, Illinois sheriff's office saying he was cheated in an eBay transaction - he mailed a $1,235 check to a post office box but never received twelve boxes of Ultimate Victory baseball cards he won.
The box was traced to Sweet's girl friend, Treasure Clayton, when investigators discovered it listed a false address but traced a domestic violence report listing an address for Clayton and Sweet. Sweet is charged with grand theft, and is held on $75,000 bond - with a stipulation he prove he got any money to meet the bond legally.
--- Compiled By Humphrey Pennyworth
