On Wednesday, former President Bill Clinton spoke at ICANN’s 40th public meeting and was asked his thoughts about Internet taxation. Clinton signed the Internet Freedom Tax Act in 1998 which meant retailers without a presence within a state were exempt from collecting tax on sales. The goal was to let the e-conomy grow and evolve.

It has evolved. So when Clinton was asked what he felt government’s role with the Internet should be now. His response was that while his administration fought against government involvement, the time may have come to, “have some form of consumption tax as part of the mix,” in order to keep taxes as a whole low.

“E-commerce is going great and old commerce is doing not so great,” he said and then continued to name some stores in his hometown that have gone out of business. “Do we need to set up a tax system that favors the people that are doing well and burdens the people that are struggling?”