This is one of those urban legends that goes back and forth on the net
without any evident substance.
MG
-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Kurtz [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 1999 2:27 PM
To: futurework
Subject: e-mail surcharge by US Postal Svce??
I received this privately, and am skeptical. Anyone else hear about it?
I'll do a search for the alleged legal firm & report back.
Steve
>Please read the following carefully if you intend to stay on-line 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
> >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. 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 noninterference.
> >
> >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
> >dollars 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
> >whose time has come" (March 6th 1999 Editorial)
> >
> >Don't sit by and watch your freedom erode away! Send this email to
all
> >Americans on your list and tell your friends and relatives to write
to
> their
> >congressman and say "No!" to Bill 602P.
> >
> >Kate Turner Assistant to Richard Stepp, Berger,
> >Stepp and Gorman
> >Attorneys at Law
> >216 Concorde Street, Vienna, VA
> >
