Germany Quashes Net Tax Plan Country Watch: Germany9/18/2000; 7:35:48 PM 'Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Monday ruled out a tax on Internet use that critics said would stifle the development of the Web in Germany, Europe's biggest economy. 'In a speech to business leaders, Schroeder quashed a new Finance Ministry rule floated last month to tax businesses every time employees use company computers for private Internet surfing.'Which would have implied either lax enforcement, or a wide-scale motitoring of employee activity detailed enough to account for how much time isn't spent on company business. At least it was squashed.