How2Day: Laws Regarding Service Fees for Internet Payments

What are the additional costs of having Internet access? John Foxx/Stockbyte/Getty Images
Most online fees charged above regular Internet access are typically left up to the discretion of the company that provides a service. For instance, a music-download company may charge a subscription fee, as well as an access fee, for providing music to the paying public. Government entities may charge access and/or subscription fees to users of their public services.

Internet service providers charge monthly service and access fees. There are no particular laws regulating Internet service fees that define what must be charged and which are legally mandatory, but different providers do charge subscription and/or access fees for providing certain services. The fees charged depend on what the public is willing to pay as compared to what companies can charge and thrive on in order to stay in business. ISPs typically do pay licensing and communications fee to governments. That cost is handed over to the subscriber, but is usually bundled in with the one-charge service fee and not separated out.

Companies like Warner Music Group are leading the way in increased bundled-service fees to Internet users for providing unlimited access to music.

Service fees charged by the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, are mostly a part of the use of privatized telephone services. The Internet is a separate entity that is rooted and based in the Pentagon, which is paid for by federally subsidized tax dollars. Though there is little chance that Internet service fees will be charged and regulated any time soon, the door is always open. The advent of voice over internet protocol, or VoIP, has made that possible simply because of the use of the Internet to make free or practically free online telephone calls to people all over the world. The general rule of thumb is that if the government can find a way to tax it without major public backlash, they will do it.

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