I see a lot of comments here in shock and disbelief. In the spirit of at least trying to consider the most charitable view if the events I would like to offer m

I see a lot of comments here in shock and disbelief. In the spirit of at least trying to consider the most charitable view if the events I would like to offer my justification for what happens. Municipalities tax consumption on their territory. By contrast, the federal government taxes income and/or profit. The individual states tax one or the other or both. This division has to do, in part, with practicality of administering the tax. The primary purpose of taxes is to fund the projects for the common good, plus the overhead. The secondary purpose is to promote or suppress certain activities, such as tobacco use. Tying a certain tax to a certain purpose is an exception rather than the rule. Most taxes go into the common pool. Had there been a movie theater in town it would have been taxed. The same is true if both the server and the viewer were in the same town - the server would be taxed as a business and the viewer would be taxed as a consumer. Moving the server to a different location leads to a situation where the consumption tax is not paid in either jurisdiction. Thus an arbitrary act of placement has dramatic consequences for the revenue of municipalities. It also puts local business at disadvantage, undermining the business tax base and jeopardizing jobs, so further eroding the funding of the common good. Yeah, I prefer to pay less myself. I also run a Saas business and I would rather not have to collect the taxes. Still if I am concerned with the fairness of it, I have to admit that uniformity trumps my personal preference.