Gavin Newsom What Are You Talking About?

"As someone who lives near a Best Buy, I'm at Best Buy often. And I'm paying sales tax on a lot of this prewritten software. And then I find out that all my friends that aren't near a Best Buy, they're downloading and they are not paying sales tax. How is that fair?"

"Newsom's conception of the store, and tech in general, seems trapped in 2004. That was the year World of Warcraft came out, sporting one of the last iconic box arts for a PC game before the CD-ROM was phased out. It was a glorious time, so I get the nostalgia."

"I'm not sure what "prewritten software" the store is upselling him on, but all of it is now available online and much of it is streamed via subscriptions. I promise you that is what most people are doing, regardless of whether they live near a Best Buy or not."

"Last week, Newsom took a break from podcasting and shitposting about President Trump to argue that California's state sales tax of 7.5 percent should apply to software companies too, many of which are based in his state."

California Governor Gavin Newsom proposes extending the state’s 7.5% sales tax to software companies and digital software. The current structure taxes many purchases made in physical retail settings while allowing some software obtained through online downloading to avoid sales tax. Newsom frames the issue as unfair by claiming he frequently buys prewritten software at a nearby Best Buy and pays sales tax, while friends who are not near the store download software without paying tax. The criticism notes that most software is now bought online or delivered through subscriptions, making the Best Buy comparison feel outdated. It also suggests the view of technology reflects an earlier era of boxed PC software.

Read at Kotaku