Online porn has been spared an XXXL tax, proposed last spring by Assemblyman Charles Calderon (D.-some town where no one buys porn). When even state Republicans wouldn't back the 25 percent tax on adult entertainment, including streaming and downloaded Internet content, Calderon's argument that those who produce and consume porn need to pay for its "harms" on the community started to fell apart. This week, the bill got tied up in the Appropriations Committee, from whence it's believed to be unlikely to emerge before the close of the legislative session on November 30. The term is "held under submission," and it has nothing to do with anything going on inside Kink.com's headquarters in the Mission District.

California's Republicans are deliberating whether or not to tax your porn downloads. State Assemblyman Charles Calderon (D.-City of Industry) first proposed a tax on all online porn, estimated to bring in $500 million to offset Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget cuts, and now wants to levy a 25 percent tax on any adult businesses operating in California, and on consumer's purchases of porn, too. It's fiendishly clever.

In a move to shore up the state budget, State Assemblyman Charles Calderon, D-City of Industry, introduced AB 1956 in February. The bill, if passed, would equate paid downloads of digital content with real goods for sales tax purposes — meaning that Californians would have to pay an extra eight percent next time they sign up to download movies by Sasha Grey. Caleron estimates that taxing porn alone would bring in $500 million. Good luck with that.(Photo by AP/Rich Pedroncelli)