Australian company introduces world's first tax on Microsoft 'Internet Explorer 7' browser

Company introduces 'tax' on customers using IE7 'to make the Internet a better place'

In a world first an Australian online retailer has introduced a 'tax' on customers using the Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) browser.

The consumer electronics specialist Kogan has elected to bring in the levy on products ordered through its website using IE7.

The charge is set at 6.8% - 0.1% for each month since the IE7 launch.

Ruslan Kogan, the chief executive of the company told the BBC that the move was in order to get back some of the costs involved in "rendering the website into an antique browser".

Customers visiting the website using the Microsoft browser are met with a message saying,

'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.'

A posting on the Kogan blog today said,

“As Internet citizens, we all have a responsibility to make the Internet a better place. By taking these measures, we are doing our bit.”

Comments on the blog posting appeared to be largely positive following the announcement with one user posting 'web developers everywhere salute you, good sirs.'

Internet Explorer 7 was launched in 2006, but there have been two significant updates to the software since.

The latest version, Internet Explorer 10 is due to arrive this autumn.