Please post this as it effects us all. Thanks
> Subject: Bill 602P (5 cent surcharge on email)
>
> (I just received this email & thought you would be interested in
it)
>
> 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 Government 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 bureaucratic 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 �
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 e-mail to EVERYONE on your list, and tell all your
friends and
> relatives to write to
> their congressman 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 don't
want.
>
> Kate Turner
> Assistant to Richard Stepp,
> Berger, Stepp and Gorman,
> Attorneys at Law
> 216 Concorde Street, Vienna, VA
>
>
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