Re: Bill in Congress to Charge 5 cents to email...Please Read

["Mike Yared" <mikeyared@hotmail.com>]

http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Mythology_and_Folklore/Folklore/Urban_Legends/Bill_602_P/
http://www.urbanlegends.com/ulz/emailtax.html

Mike

>From: "Daniel T. Fahey" <DanFahey@DanSources.com>
>Reply-To: KOREAN-WAR-L@raven.cc.ku.edu
>To: <KOREAN-WAR-L@raven.cc.ku.edu>
>Subject: Bill in Congress to Charge 5 cents to email...Please Read
>Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 10:15:02 -0400
>
>Postage will go up the end of June 2002 from 34 cents to 37 cents. It will
>be from 9% to 12% rate increase.
>
>But this isn't all.  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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