Based on info from the US Postal Service, This is Bogus.
Jon
Donna Muehlbauer wrote:
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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