Well, Hi There, Folks
My apologies if you have already seen this article.
This applies specifically to Canadians, but it could be the trend of
the future in ALL countries if it is allowed to happen in ONE. I am
sending this to everyone in my address book, with apologies. BUT, I
hope it is of such significant importance that you will want to do
something about it... no matter what country you are in. This seems
to be the thin edge of a knife starting to cut!!!!
I can see the Post Offices point, but as this article says, isn't this
a democratic country... as are most of those countries you all are
in?
I hope this becomes, "Never In Canada", NOT "Only In Canada"!
I also hope that it does not happen in other countries!
Gil Knutson
Sardis, BC
Canada
*** A Wonderful Forwarded Message, sent by stewart grafton on 21-Apr-99,
follows: ***
Internet Subscriber:
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 Canada attempting to quietly push through legislation
that will affect your use of the Internet.
Under proposed legislation Canada Post will be attempting to bill
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.
Toronto lawyer Richard Stepp QC is working to prevent this legislation
from becoming law.The Canada Post Corporation is claiming that lost
revenue due to the proliferation of email is costing nearly $23,000,000
in revenue per year. You may have noticed Canada Post's 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 Canada Post for a service they
do not even provide. The whole point of the Internet is democracy and
non-interference. If the Canadian 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 exhorbitant price for snail mail because
of beaurocratic inefficiency.
It currently takes up to 6 days for a letter to be delivered from
Mississauga to Scarborough. If Canada Post Corporation is allowed to
tinker with email, it will mark the end of the "free" Internet in
Canada. One back-bencher, Liberal Tony Schnell (NB) 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 Toronto Star that 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 all Canadians on your list and tell your friends and
relatives to write to their MP and say "No!" to Bill 602P.
Kate Turner
Assistant to Richard Stepp QC
Berger, Stepp and Gorman
Barristers at Law
216 Bay Street
Toronto, ON
MlL 3C6
*** End of Noteworthy Forwarded Message ***
Gil K. out...
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gil Knutson's Pride and Joy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[EMAIL PROTECTED] - Team *AMIGA* - Sardis, BC, Canada
A3000/30/2+16 RAM+245 meg Maxtor+105 meg Quantum+ZIP Drive
MFCardIII+GVC 56k v.90 VoiceFax Modem+Lexmark 4039 10R+16meg
THOR, MUI, MWB, Voyager, AmIRC, AmFTP (all reg)
~~~~~~~~~~~ The Amiga Shall Inherit the Earth ~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am sending this message just to see if you get it.
