-Caveat Lector- http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/stamps990809.html Postage Can Be Printed at Home By Janelle Carter The Associated Press W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 9 � No need to leave home to buy stamps any more. The Postal Service today launched PC Postage, a stamp that can be printed through personal computers. Whether it�s used by the average consumer mailing holiday cards or wedding invitations or a business sending correspondence, the system eventually could change the way many people put postage on their envelopes. Consumers would go online to one of the companies offering PC Postage. With an ordinary laser or inkjet printer, a barcode would be printed on each envelope to indicate mail processing information and postage payment. For packages, consumers would enter the weight, buy the appropriate amount of postage and print it on labels to be put on the packages. �With PC Postage you can purchase and print postage 24 hours a day, seven days a week from the convenience of your home or office,� said Pam Gibert, Postal Service vice president of retail. Wellington Wilson, a San Francisco businessman whose Wellington E-Group is creating an online shopping mall, provided his own testimonial. �This operation is so slick, so simple, so easy,� said Wilson, who has been using the Stamps.com product as part of a pilot program since January. No More Licking? Stamps.com of Santa Monica, Calif., and E-Stamp Corp. of San Mateo, Calif., began offering the computerized postage today. Two other companies � Neopost Inc. of Hayward, Calif., and Pitney Bowes of Stamford Conn. � are to begin offering the products in coming months. Consumers can use those companies� Web sites to purchase and print postage for domestic first-class, Priority and Express Mail and for parcel post envelopes and packages. With each company, the consumer goes to the company�s Web site to register and download any required software. Some companies offer the software free while others require a fee. Consumers also will pay handling fees to the companies � they will range from $1.99 to $19.99 a month depending on usage rates, according to companies� plans � along with payment for the postage. Purchases can be made either by debit or credit card. The procedure for usage can also vary. Some companies have hardware that can be purchased and used offline to print stamps. For others, the postage is downloaded directly off the Internet. During the three years of working on PC Postage, each company has had to meet requirements to ensure the security of the system, Gibert said. Even with high-tech stamps, the traditional stamp isn�t headed for extinction, Gibert said. �We don�t see that stamps are going away,� she said. �It�s simply another choice.� Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. . Visit the Eagle 1 Observer "Observing the World Around You" http://www.crayon.net/read.cgi?[EMAIL PROTECTED]. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
