Absurd as it may sound, that is effectively what the draft of an NTC Memorandum Circular may end up doing if it is implemented: taxing online content from the Philippines!
The draft Memorandum Circular, dated December 22, 2008, is entitled “GUIDELINES ON THE PROVISION OF CONTENTS, INFORMATION, APPLICATIONS, AND ELECTRONIC GAMES“. In section B Registration, number 1, the document states:
Contents, Information, Applications and/or Electronic Games Providers, Contents Developers, Information Sources, Applications Developers, and Electronic Games Developers are required to have commercial presence in the country and shall secure Certificate of Registration (COR) from the Commission.
The NTC document defines “Providers” as:
… persons or entities offering and providing contents (or information, applications, or electronic games — additions are mine) to the public for compensation through the networks, systems and/or facilities of authorized networks, systems and/or facilities providers.
Take note, it says these are those who provide something for compensation. At first blush, this would seem to exclude most bloggers, those who post on forums and social networking sites, and others who don’t really get paid for putting content online.
On the other hand, the NTC document also makes these other definitions:
Posted by Maddog 
