Hi Gang,
In response to the forwarded posting in re: poatal tax on e-mail.
this is a version of an older hoax which has been around for a few weeks. I
immediately checked the updated archive of such hoaxes and found the
following, so don't get too excited over it.
Doyle
***************
archive of legends & netlore:
U.S. Postal Tax on Email?
Posted: 05/22/99
Here's an item straight out of the Hoax Recycling Bin. A "new" email
forward claims that the U.S. Postal Service is attempting to levy a 5-cent
surcharge on every email delivered within the United States.
Funny thing is, a virtually identical message circulating one month ago
claimed that the same thing was about to happen in Canada. False, in both
cases (see comments below).
Subject: E-MAIL SURCHARGE
Dear Internet Subscriber:
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 bureacratic efficiency. 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 email 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.
Guide's note: Compare the above to the Canadian version of one month ago.
Someone has simply taken that text and "localized" it by replacing Canadian
references with U.S. equivalents. No points for cleverness or originality
on this one.
Here's an excerpt from the U.S. Postal Service's reaction to the rumor:
A completely false rumor concerning the U.S. Postal Service is being
circulated over the Internet via e-mail.
The e-mail message claims that a "Congressman Schnell" has introduced
"Bill
602P" to allow the federal government to impose a 5-cent surcharge on each
e-mail message delivered over the Internet. The money would be collected by
Internet Service Providers and then turned over to the Postal Service.
No such proposed legislation exists. In fact, no "Congressman Schnell"
exists.
Media Sightings
CBS MarketWatch:
'Email rumor is shot down'
Newsbytes:
'Don't Go Postal Over Email Tax Hoax'
Roy Betts, manager of media relations for the Postal Service, told
reporters: "It's obviously a hoax."
Er... evidently not so obvious to everyone forwarding the email alert.
Rumors of rate hikes or surcharges for Internet access, no matter how
false, never fail to cause hysteria among rank and file users. Witness the
similar Modem Tax legend of a decade ago, or the more recent long distance
access charge rumors that have swamped the FCC's offices with protests over
the past couple of years.
Family site:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/7886
Gendex site:
http://www.my-ged.com/sterkkn