JUST GOT THIS EMAILED TO ME -- Trey Pattillo
Subject: Bill 602P pertaining to surcharge on E Mail
>>
>>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
U.S.
>>Postal Service will be attempting to bilk 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
>>non-interference. 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
bureacratic
>>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 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
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.
>>
>>
>>
>>It's the action, not
the fruit of the action that's important.
>>You have to do the right
thing... You may never know what results
>>come from your action. But
if you do nothing, there will be no result.
>(Gandhi)
>
>
