[Elecraft] bill to charge for e-mail

Sat Mar 2 16:55:01 2002

This has been circulated about a thousand times and is NOT true

Mark
N5MF
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Wayne Rogers" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, March 02, 2002 2:22 AM
Subject: [Elecraft] bill to charge for e-mail


> 
> 
> 
> I just received the following from KN6ZB.  Thought it was significant
> enough to forward to you.  Excuse me if you think it irrelevant.  Just
> delete it.  73,  Bill, W0OWY
> From: [email protected] 
> To:  [email protected]
> Sent: Friday, March 01, 2002 11:38 PM
> Subject: Fw: bill to charge for e-mail
>   Guess the warnings were true.  Federal Bill 602P 5-cents per E-mail
> sent. It figures!  No more free E-mail!  We knew this was coming!!  Bill
> 602P will permit the Federal Government to charge a 5-cent charge on
> every delivered E-mail. 
> 
>   Please read the following carefully if you intend to stay online and
> continue using E-mail.  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 our use of the Internet. 
>   Under proposed legislation, the US Postal Service will be attempting to
> bill E-mail users out of "alternative postage fees." 
>   Bill 602P will permit the Federal Government to charge a 5-cent
> surcharge on every e-mail 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 lost revenue, due to the
> proliferation of E-mail, 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 person received about 10 pieces of E-mail per day in
> 1998, the cost of the typical individual would be an additional 50 cents
> a 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 noninterference. 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 coast to coast.  If the US Postal Service is allowed
> to tinker with E-mail, it will mark the end of the "free" Internet in the
> United States. 
>   Congressional representative, Tony Schnell (R) has even suggested a
> "$20-$40 per month surcharge on all Internet service" above and beyond
> the governments proposed E-mail charges.  Note that most of the major
> newspapers have ignored the story the only exception being the
> Washingtonian which called the idea of E-mail surcharge "a useful concept
> who's time has come" (March 6th, 1999 Editorial).  Do not sit by and
> watch your freedom erode away! 
>   Send this E-mail to EVERYONE on your list, and tell all your friends
> and relatives to write their congressional representative 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 do not want. 
>   
> PLEASE FORWARD
> 
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