Please forgive me for doing this but as this affects everyone on this list I
wanted to pass this along (flame me if you must,be merciful,my wife washed my
asbestos suit and it should have been dry cleaned)Brad
>Subject: Email
> >>
> >>
> >>Subject:
> >> Fw: Email and the USPS
> >> Date:
> >> Mon, 31 May 1999 14:16:11 -0500
> >> From:
> >> gluck@itexas.net (gluck@itexas.net)
> >>
> >>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 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 (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
> >>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
> >>
> >>Mike
> >
>
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