Does anyone out there know about this? Will we be taxed for e-mailing our novias?
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=20 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 andbeyond
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
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 (Republican) 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=20 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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