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This is the same story for software development, and it’s going to continue to spread to specialist fields.

The USPTO really isn't interested in those sorts of semantics. This would be a slam dunk for Epic.

No. Sales tax in the US is determined based on the location where the customer takes possession of the merchandise.

Unfortunately, that is not a political reality. The federal government does not have the power to enforce sales tax rules on the states.

Gotcha. In the US, if you tried to keep that system, you’d need a different printed MSRP per tax nexus and books in warehouses would no longer be fungible.

It doesn’t “cost extra”, it has a different tax structure. Sure, there might be no sales tax in OR, but there sure is income tax. Just north in WA, it’s the opposite where there is sales tax but no income tax.

My experiences outside the US do not match yours, I guess.

“Local” advertising is not practical. There are 13,000 sales tax jurisdictions in the US.

Yes, it's on top of VAT. It's usually "discretionary", meaning you can ask to have it taken off the bill, but you must ask and it usually results in being glared at.

What is certainly true is that Americans are culturally more friendly toward strangers. Americans smiling and talking a lot is a cliche at this point. However, I would bet the "best friend" experiences that you have had would be nothing but simple pleasantries to a typical American. Tipping culture has little to do with it; "friendliness" is regarded as an element of excellent service here. Even in situations where no tip is ever expected, such as in a clothing store, workers are trained to be as friendly and overly helpful as possible.

For what it's worth, I have memories of extremely friendly waitstaff in Europe -- dare I say "American-esque". Just this summer, a French bartender in the Marais asked where we were from. When we answered "the US", she launched into a story about a trip she'd taken to New York. She talked about how much she loved seeing a Broadway show, Central Park, and MoMA. I watched her carry on with a British couple and many French patrons in the same way, returning to grab us another glass of wine and chat some more. The French people present seemed just as happy to chat with her as we were.

I have similar stories from London, Florence, Barcelona, and Tokyo (just off the top of my head). It's certainly not common, but I've seen it several times.

Americans often say most Europeans are stiff and uptight. Europeans often think the opposite of Americans. You seem to have a bit of a chip on your shoulder about it, but it's just a cultural difference that you're choosing to find distasteful.

You're not wrong, so I'll revise to "what they believe he will sign."

I'd consider adding a fee that isn't included in the listed menu price to be predatory, even if you can ask to have it removed.

Given the only practical alternative I can imagine would mean to never show a price... yes, the current state of things is more beneficial to the consumer. Again, seeing an pre-tax MSRP price in an ad is better than not having any MSRP in an ad at all.

If you have a practical alternative that could somehow allow for advertising with prices that include tax, I'd love to hear it. (Just to make sure we're on the same page ahead of time: amending the Constitution to strike the Tenth Amendment so that the Federal Government can prevent states from levying their own taxes is not "practical".)

In general, their stance has been "vote against anything the governor is willing to sign."

> If tipping is banned in a place (by the local government I mean), where exactly are the "best workers" going to go? Are they going to pack up and move somewhere else?

Tipping was banned in seven US states about a hundred years ago. For the most part, People simply ignored the laws. They were all repealed or found unconstitutional after a couple decades. I am not aware of anywhere in the world where tipping a server is illegal.

> Also, how are the tipped staff the "best workers"? They're just servers. All they have to do is take an order.

"Best workers" would include highly competent servers who are a direct cause of repeat business. A good server adds to the experience beyond the food and ambiance and help turn new customers into regulars. Regulars are the lifeblood of most restaurants.

> It's incredible how much money they expect for this, when it's something that would be more efficiently done with an iPad.

Servers can make suggestions based on your preferences, make sure your dietary restrictions are handled, answer questions about the menu... these are experiences I have all the time and I'm certain an iPad would be worse.

> In US restaurants, they're even too lazy to bring the food for you; I guess they're too busy trying to act like the customer's new best friend.

Servers bring out the food I order. I don't even know how to respond beyond that.

Maybe you're just going to really bad restaurants?