Kogan introduces Internet Explorer 7 'tax'

Consumer electronics specialist Kogan has elected to introduce a new 'tax' on products ordered through its website - a tax which applies only to users of Internet Explorer 7.

The brainchild of outspoken company founder Ruslan Kogan, a man not-unfamiliar with the means and methods of getting your small Australian electronics company in the international press, the tax will increase the cost of products purchased through the site by 6.8 per cent - 0.1 per cent for every month Internet Explorer 7 has been on the market.

Buyers browsing the site using Internet Explorer 7 will receive a message reading: 'It appears you or your system administrator has been in a coma for over 5 years and you are still using IE7. To help make the Internet a better place, you will be charged a 6.8% tax on your purchase from Kogan.com. This is necessary due to the amount of time required to make web pages appear correctly in IE7.'

Those unhappy with paying the tax are given a clear instruction: 'Avoid the tax, use a better browser.' The pop-up message provides links to Google's Chrome, Mozilla's Firefox, Apple's Safari and Opera's eponymous browser by way of assistance.

'The way we've been able to keep our prices so low is by using technology to make our business efficient and streamlined. One of the things stopping that is our web team having to spend a lot of time making our new website look normal on IE7,' claimed company founder Kogan in a statement on the stunt. 'It's not only costing us a huge amount, it's affecting any business with an online presence, and costing the Internet economy millions.

'As Internet citizens, we all have a responsibility to make the Internet a better place. By taking these measures, we are doing our bit. This will help us increase our efficiency, help keep prices for all smart shoppers down, and hopefully help eradicate the world of the pain in the rear that is IE7!'