Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah replied to a question about Internet taxation by talking about the United States policy toward Cuba.

You see, Internet taxation is one of John McCain's signature issues, second only to campaign finance reform.

Indeed, the prospect of Internet taxation is enough to raise questions among some executives about the government's motivation in seeking e-commerce data.

The Commission was charged with the task of making recommendations to the United States Congress on Internet taxation.

Internet taxation has essentially been banned in the United States since 1998, except for those jurisdictions that were grandfathered under existing federal law.

And is there a way to streamline Internet taxation, rather than letting the nation's 30,000 tax authorities cook up an overwhelming stew of schemes?

Yet Internet taxation, the nation's governors say, is merely the first of a wave of challenges that states must deal with as the advance of digital technology creates a new economy.

But no one argues the case against Internet taxation more vociferously or with greater certitude than Mr. Gilmore.

Today McCain announced another Internet ad campaign touting his support for a permanent moratorium on Internet taxation.

On the technology front, more remains unsettled, like the future of Internet taxation, and DoubleClick's plan to combine online and offline customer databases.