Google search error???

403Grab
Originally uploaded by nroberts2729.

I got this error message while "googleing" one day. If you can't read the low quality screenshot, it states the following:
We're sorry...
...but your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application. To protect our users, we can't process your request right now.

We'll restore your access as quickly as possible, so try again soon. In the meantime, if you suspect that your computer or network has been infected, you might want to run a virus checker or spyware remover to make sure your systems are free of viruses and other spurious software.

We apologize for the inconveniance, and hope we'll see you again on Google. End quote.

I know i did not have a virus, I was using a mac for heaven's sake. I tried to use Google for about 5 minutes with no success and I switched over to Yahoo for a little while. When I went back to Google a little while later, everything was fine. Anyone else had an experience like this??? (For those conspiracy theorists out there, maybe Google is trying to get us to use Google pack)

Internet Sales Tax

Online sales have grown in leaps and bounds. As more and more people trust the Internet with their personal information, the convenience of online shopping seems more and more appealing. I myself, had rather wade through a few websites than wade through the fanatical mess we call traditional Christmas shopping. Of course I am what you might call an early adopter. I readily jump right into anything new that has to do with technology (which believe me can be a gift and a curse all rolled into one), but that is a story for another time.

Must Internet purchases be subject to a sales tax? This is a very complicated question even without the myriad of tax laws one must wade through to answer this question. Buying online may be old news to a lot of us, but it is still in its infancy. Sales online continue to grow in leaps and bounds with no end in sight. This number will increase dramatically as the Internet experience becomes richer. Imagine sitting in your living room, watching your TV. This TV just happens to be connected to the Internet. The ballgame that you are about to watch is IP TV. Right before the game begins, a pop-up menu comes up in the bottom of the screen. It states that last Monday night before the game, you ordered a Pizza from Dominos, extra large, pepperoni, and an order of breadsticks. It asks you if you would like that same order again? Click Yes or No. You decide that pizza sounds pretty good, so you pick up the remote and click yes. Twenty-five minutes later you hear a knock at the door. Dinner is served. This technology is a few years away, but it’s coming. The above purchase would be considered an Internet sale in my book, and if retailers and states think they are feeling the effects of Internet sales now, lookout. That may not be a perfect example of what we are talking about, but you get the gist.

Not having to pay sales tax is one of the big draws of online shopping. If the company does not operate out of your state, you do not have to pay sales tax. That is, at least, what most people think, and they are right to some extent. You do not have to pay tax right then, but if you want to get technical, they are supposed to pay a use tax to their state. This is the law in most states as it stands today. The states just don’t have the resources or the time to go after every little purchase.

Traditional “brick and mortar” retailers complain that online retailers have an unfair advantage over them because they do have to collect sales tax. But you could say that they have advantages too. A person can go into their store, actually see and touch the product, make a secure traditional purchase, and walk out the door with the product right then. Also, if that same brick and mortar retailer opened up their online store under a different corporate entity they could use the same “no tax” advantage.

Online retailers would be in a heap of trouble if they had to sort out the tax laws for all fifty states that they ship to. It would be a logistical nightmare. If congress wants to enact Internet sales tax for everyone they have a big job ahead of them simplifying the sales tax laws in all the states. The easiest solution that I see would be to make the sales tax laws the same for every state. Problem solved, almost.