Post Followup WebTV Forum FAQ
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
>>> 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.
Keep their Hands out of your Pockets !!!!