From Autoblog: Report: Auto industry pays $135 billion in taxes annually

money

How important is the auto industry to state and federal governments? According to the Center for Automotive Research, the industry accounts for $135 billion in annual taxes. In fact, a reported 13 percent of all state taxes comes from the automobile, or $91.5 billion in total.

Just as impressive is the overall money that Americans pour into their four-wheeled transportation. CAR estimates that auto sales come in at $564 billion, and parts, repairs and other services add in another $173 billion. And those are the staggering numbers generated in an auto market of only 12 million units per year. So far, 2012 auto sales appear to be moving closer to 14 million units, which should help push the $735 billion total closer to the $1 trillion mark.

The income generated by cars and trucks is certainly significant, but a good portion of that income goes toward new roads. Of the $43 billion that ends up in federal coffers, $29 billion comes from fuel taxes. On the state level, two-thirds of the $91.5 billion comes from taxes on fuel. Still, that amounts to 10 percent of California’s overall revenue and a knee-wobbling 23 percent of revenue in Oklahoma.

Auto jobs also contribute serious coin to Uncle Sam, with Michigan leading the way. Uncle Sam took in $2.2 billion from The Mitten State, followed by Ohio and California. Hit the jumpto read the CAR press release.

Continue reading Auto industry pays $135 billion in taxes annually

from Autoblog

From Ars Technica: DoJ files antitrust suit against Apple, publishers over e-book prices


The US Department of Justice has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple and six e-book publishers over alleged collusion to fix e-book prices. The antitrust suit was filed in US District Court in New York on Wednesday morning against Apple, Hachette, Harper Collins, Macmillan, Penguin, Pearson, and Simon & Schuster, according to Bloomberg.

The European Commission began investigating Apple and the book publishers in December for allegedly trying to fix the prices of e-books in an attempt to cripple Amazon’s then-popular $9.99 e-book model. The EU was quickly followed by the US, and in late March, the EU and the US DoJ announced they were working together to pursue the case.

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from Ars Technica

From Droid Life: Starting April 22 Verizon Will Charge $30 Upgrade Fee When Existing Customers Buy New Phones at a Discounted Rate

Boo!!!!  Less and less incentives to stay with Verizon…

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Well, we got rid of that ridiculous $2 monthly fee that Verizon wanted to charge you for paying your bill online, but they have decided to kick off an “upgrade fee” in its place. Starting April 22, you will have to pay a $30 “upgrade fee” when purchasing a new phone at a discounted rate on contract. So when you pay $199 for that shiny new white DROID RAZR, but lock in for 2 years, you will also pay an additional $30.

Here is the reasoning behind this move:

On April 22, Verizon Wireless is implementing a $30 upgrade fee for existing customers purchasing new mobile equipment at a discounted price with a two-year contract. This fee will help us continue to provide customers with the level of service and support they have come to expect which includes Wireless Workshops, online educational tools, and consultations with experts who provide advice and guidance on devices that are more sophisticated than ever.

From what we can tell, Sprint and AT&T each charge $36 as an upgrade fee to their customers.

Via:  Verizon

from Droid Life

From Gizmodo: As a Show of Gratitude for Discovering the Mac Botnet, Apple Tries Shuts Down Dr. Mac’s Virus Monitoring Servers

Dr. Mac is the security firm that discovered last week’s all-Mac botnet, something that is pretty unprecedented for the operating system. After sending Apple the findings of their research, Dr. Mac heard nothing. And while it technically has yet to acknowledge Dr. Mac at all, the fact that Apple attempted to nix the group’s monitoring servers shut down suggests it’s very aware of the situation. More »


from Gizmodo