NY Gov. Paterson Proposes Digital Downloads Tax, Porn World Unamused

NY Gov. David Paterson is looking rilly rilly hard for new revenue streams. To that end, he is proposing a 4% sales tax on all digital products downloaded in New York. And since a huge throbbing wet hunk of that business is porn, the XXX world is not pleased.

Now Gov. Paterson is rubbing the porn industry the wrong way. From triple-X starlets to smut producers, porn industry insiders bemoaned the governor's plan to apply the so-called "iPod tax" on online music downloads to Web pornography and pay-per-view on television. "We've had an adult industry in this country for decades, and now they want to tax us because of a deficit. That's not at all fair," complained Shawna Lenee, 21, a perky blonde, March 2009 Penthouse Pet and star of more than 200 hardcore videos. The Paterson administration wants to expand the state's 4 percent sales tax to all digital purchases, from music downloads to e-books to movies if the retailer has some kind of presence in New York state. The 4 percent would also be applied to any subscription service that provides unlimited content for a monthly fee.

Interestingly, the right-wing is against the tax, not for the usual "no new taxes" reason, but because taxing porn would "legitimize" it. Conservative Party spokesdouche Tony Long whines, "It's absolutely outrageous if they're profiting off of pornography. If they're raising funds, it's encouraging the citizens of the this state to download it."

Gawker notes dryly: "Governor Paterson is unable to see porn."