Re: Vote NO *** BOGUS/Urban Legend !!!

[Chuck Lewis <clewis@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Sorry Folks,

This is bogus and an "Urban Legend", NO truth to it...

Chuck

Richard Spangenberg wrote:

> Subject: VOTE NO!!!!!!!!
>
> You are not planning on charging you 5-cents for each email you send and
> give it to the US Post Office to compensate them for business lost!
>
> VOTE NO ON Bill 602P!!!!
>
> I guess the warnings were true. Federal Bill 602P will charge you 5 cents
> per E-mail Sent. It figures! No more free E-mail! We knew this was coming!!
> 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 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 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 of the typical individual would be an
> additional 50 cents a day - or over $180 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.
> 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 congressional representative, Tony Schnell (r) has even
> suggested a "$20-$40 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
> whose time has come" (March 6th, 1999 Editorial). Do not sit by and watch
> your freedom erode away! Send this to E-mail to EVERYONE on your list, and
> tell all your friends and relatives write their congressional representative
> 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 do not want.
>
>   Please forward!
>
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