OFF TOPIC: Fw: e-mail surcharge!!!

[Bob George <bgp76@pacbell.net>]

In case anyone's interested...


> Friends,
>
> We Knew this was coming!!
>
> Bill 602P will permit the Federal Govt. to charge a 5 cent charge on every
> delivered email. Please read the following carefully if you intend to stay
> online and continue using E-mail: The last few months have revealed an
> alarming trend in the Government of the United States attempting to
quietly
> push through legislation that will affect your use of the Internet.
>
> Under proposed legislation the US Postal Service will be attempting to
bill
> E-mail users out of "alternate postage fees." Bill 602P will permit the
> Federal Govt. to charge a 5 cent surcharge on every E-mail delivered, by
> billing Internet Service Providers at source. The consumer would then be
> billed in turn by the ISP.
>
> Washington DC lawyer Richard Stepp is working without pay to prevent this
> legislation from becoming law. The US Postal Service is claiming that lost
> revenue due to the proliferation of email is costing nearly $230,000,000
in
> revenue per year. You may have seen their recent ad campaign "There is
> nothing like a letter." Since the average received about 10 pieces of
email
> per day in 1998, the cost to the typical individual would be an additional
> 50
> cents per day, or over $180 dollars per year, above and beyond their
regular
> Internet costs.
>
> Note that this would be money paid directly to the US Postal Service for a
> service they do not even provide.  The whole point of the Internet is
> democracy and non-interference. If the federal government is permitted to
> tamper with end. You are already paying an exorbitant price for snail mail
> because of bureaucratic efficiency. It currently takes up to 6 days for a
> letter to be delivered from New York to Buffalo. If the US Postal Service
is
> allowed to tinker with email, it will mark the end of the "free" Internet
in
> the United States.  One Congressman, Tony Schnell, has even suggested a
> "twenty to forty dollar per month surcharge on all Internet service" above
> and beyond the government's proposed email charges.
>
> Note that most of the major newspapers have ignored the story, the only
> exception being the Washingtonian which called the idea of email surcharge
> "a
> useful concept who's time has come" (March 6th 1999 Editorial).
>
> Don't sit by and watch your freedoms erode away!  Send this e-mail to
> EVERYONE on your list, and tell all your friends and relatives to write to
> their congressman and say "No!" to Bill 602P. It will only take a few
> moments
> of your time, and could very well be instrumental in killing a bill we
don't
> want.
>
> ______________________________________________________
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