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

["Raymond A. Chauvin" <loans@4u.net>]

This is a HOAX.
This will NOT happen.
(but still try to prevent it, just in case!)

Bob George wrote:

> Red Sox Nation's Mailing List - http://fwp.simplenet.com/redsox/
>
> 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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> >
>
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