Sent: Saturday, December 15, 2001 2:03
PM
Subject: RC: Federal Bill 602-P
Not sure if this can really be true, but I thought
I'd
better forward this just in case.
Joyce
Subject: Federal Bill
602-P
-->
Guess the warnings were true. Federal Bill 602P
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 noninterference. 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.
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
who's time has come"
(March 6th, 1999 Editorial). Do not 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 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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