>>>Bill 602P--
>>>
>>>The Postal Service wants to charge 5 cents for every e-mail...
>>>
>>>Please read the following carefully if you intend to stay online
>>>and continue using email: 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 U.S. Postal Service will
>>>be attempting to bilk email users out of "alternate postage
>>>fees."
>>>Bill 602P will permit the Federal Govt to charge a 5 cent
>>>surcharge on every email delivered, by billing Internet Service
Providers
>>>at source. The consumer would then be billed in turn by the ISP.
>>>Washington D.C. lawyer Richard Stepp is working without pay to
>>>prevent this legislation from becoming law.
>>>
>>>The U.S. 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 noticed their recent ad campaign "There is
>>>nothing like a letter". Since the average citizen 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 U.S. 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 our liberties by adding a surcharge to email, who knows
>>>where it will 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
>>>New York to Buffalo.
>>>If the U.S. 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 (r) 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.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>______________________________________________________
>>Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>
>______________________________________________________
>Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
--------- End forwarded message ----------
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