email fees
ed bakker
Hi,
This was just sent to me, I thought I would pass it on. This involves all
of us.
Subject: USPS TO CHARGE FOR E-MAIL
>
> Please read the following carefully if you intend to stay on-line
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 your use of the Internet.
>
> Under proposed legislation the U.S. Postal Service will be
attempting
> to bilk e-mail users out of "alternate postage fees".
>
> Bill 602P will permit the Federal govt. 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, 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 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
> citizen received about 10 pieces of e-mail 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
> e-mail, 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
> e-mail, it will mark the end of the "free" Internet in the United
> States.
>
> One congressman, Tony Schnell has even suggested a "twenty to
forty
> dollar per month surcharge on alI Internet service" above and
beyond
> the government's 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).
>
> Don't sit by and watch your freedom erode away!
>
> Send this e-mail to all Americans on your list and tell your
friends
> and relatives to write to their congressman and say "No!" to Bill
602P.
>
> Kate Turner
> Assistant to Richard Stepp, Berger, Stepp and Gorman
> Attorneys at Law
> 216 Concorde Street, Vienna, Va.
>
> URGENT!!!! Pass this along to all your e-mail buddies>