--------------- The Rumor That Wouldn't Die ----------------

Government agencies and members of Congress have spent the
last year trying to kill a rumor about an e-mail tax, a tax
that has no basis in reality, a tax that was invented on
the internet. But phantom bill 602P, which allegedly would
levy a 5-cent tax on every e-mail, continues to generate
thousands of angry letters to legislators from people all
over the country. "The sheer number of contacts Congressional
offices get on the 602P hoax shows the extent to which the
Internet has become such an integral part of the lives of
average Americans," said Tina Beth Burton, spokeswoman for
the Information Technology Association of America. And it's
not just average Americans the rumor is affecting. Last week
U.S. Senate candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rep. Rick
Lazio even discussed the tax proposal on national TV. Lazio
called it, "...an example of the government's greedy hand,
in trying to take money from taxpayers that, frankly, it has
no right to." More like an example of people believing what-
ever they read.