jbob
03-22-2000, 02:40 PM
I just got this email-
FYI
> E-mail at 5 cents per ???
> It figures! No more free E-mail? We knew this was coming!! House Bill
> 602P will permit the Federal Government to charge a 5 cent charge on
> every
> delivered E-mail.
>
> 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 our use of the Internet.
>
> Under proposed legislation the US Postal Service will be attempting
> to
> bill E-mail users out of "alternative postage fees." Bill 602P will
> permit
> the Federal Government to charge a 5 cent surcharge on every E-mail
> delivered, by billing Internet Service Providers at the 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 E-mail is costing nearly
> $230,000,000
> in
>
> revenue per year. You may have noticed their recent ad campaign
> "There is
> nothing like a letter."
>
> Since the average person received about 10 pieces of E-mail per day
> in
> 1998,
>
> the cost to the typical individual would be an additional $ .50 cents
> a
> 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 noninterference. If
> the Federal Government is permitted to tamper with an end. You are
> already
> paying an exorbitant price for snail mail because of bureaucratic
> inefficiency. It currently takes up to 6 days for a letter to be
> delivered
>
> from coast to coast. If the US Postal Service is allowed to tinker
> with
> E-mail, it will mark the end of the "free" Internet in the United
> States.
> Our congressman, Tony Schnell Æ has even suggested a "twenty to forty
> dollar per month surcharge on all Internet service"-above and beyond
> the
>
> governments proposed E-mail charges.
>
> Note that most of the major newspapers have ignored the story, the
> only
> exception being the Washingtonian which called the idea of E-mail
> surcharge"a useful concept who's time has come" (March 6th,
> 1999.editorial).
>
> Don't sit by and watch your freedom erode away!
>
> Send this E-mail to EVERYONE on your list, and tell all your friends
> and relatives to write their congressman and say "NO!" to House 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.
Is this for real? Has anyone else heard of this extreme nonsense?
FYI
> E-mail at 5 cents per ???
> It figures! No more free E-mail? We knew this was coming!! House Bill
> 602P will permit the Federal Government to charge a 5 cent charge on
> every
> delivered E-mail.
>
> 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 our use of the Internet.
>
> Under proposed legislation the US Postal Service will be attempting
> to
> bill E-mail users out of "alternative postage fees." Bill 602P will
> permit
> the Federal Government to charge a 5 cent surcharge on every E-mail
> delivered, by billing Internet Service Providers at the 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 E-mail is costing nearly
> $230,000,000
> in
>
> revenue per year. You may have noticed their recent ad campaign
> "There is
> nothing like a letter."
>
> Since the average person received about 10 pieces of E-mail per day
> in
> 1998,
>
> the cost to the typical individual would be an additional $ .50 cents
> a
> 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 noninterference. If
> the Federal Government is permitted to tamper with an end. You are
> already
> paying an exorbitant price for snail mail because of bureaucratic
> inefficiency. It currently takes up to 6 days for a letter to be
> delivered
>
> from coast to coast. If the US Postal Service is allowed to tinker
> with
> E-mail, it will mark the end of the "free" Internet in the United
> States.
> Our congressman, Tony Schnell Æ has even suggested a "twenty to forty
> dollar per month surcharge on all Internet service"-above and beyond
> the
>
> governments proposed E-mail charges.
>
> Note that most of the major newspapers have ignored the story, the
> only
> exception being the Washingtonian which called the idea of E-mail
> surcharge"a useful concept who's time has come" (March 6th,
> 1999.editorial).
>
> Don't sit by and watch your freedom erode away!
>
> Send this E-mail to EVERYONE on your list, and tell all your friends
> and relatives to write their congressman and say "NO!" to House 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.
Is this for real? Has anyone else heard of this extreme nonsense?