Durham, NC: AT&T is facing a class action lawsuit over allegations that the Internet access fees it charges its smart phone customers is in violation of the law. According to the suit, AT&T's Internet access tax is listed as a separate line item on monthly bills.
The complaint, filed in January in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, states that the tax is illegal because both state and federal law bars the collection of taxes for Internet access through the Internet Tax Freedom Act. The Act was passed by Congress in 1998, many years before Internet access was available via mobile or so called smart phones. The law has been renewed three times, and the tax moratorium now extends to 2014.
A report in the North Carolina online paper, Triangle Business Journal, states that "AT&T says in a court filing that 40 class-action suits have been filed in 37 separate districts."
