It was sort of a long link to cut and paste, so just go to www.ask.com
and type 'bill 602p' in the box and one of the returns it will give you
is an internet rumours site. Check it out.
Mike
> Bill Shirley wrote:
>
> I received this e-mail and want to know if anyone knows if this is
> true:
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Bill
>
> > This is not right, the Government wants to put a charge on email!
> >
> >>>>>>> We knew this was coming!!
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Bill 602P will permit the Federal Government charge a 5 cent
> > charge
> >>>>>>> on every delivered email. 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 US Postal Service will be attempting to bill 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 DC lawyer Richard Stepp is working without pay to
> > prevent
> >>>>>>> this legislation from becoming law.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> The US 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 seen their recent ad campaign "There is
> nothing
> >>>>>>> like a letter". Since the average internet user 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 per
> year,
> >> above
> >>>>>>> and beyond their regular Internet costs. Note that this would
> be
> >>>>>>> money paid directly to the US 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 it then
> that
> > will
> >>>>>>> all come to an end. You are already paying an exorbitant price
> for
> >>>>>>> snail mail because of bureaucratic inefficiency. It currently
> > takes
> >>>>>>> up to 6 days for a letter to be delivered from New York to
> > Buffalo.
> >>>>>>> If the US 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
> email
> > 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!
