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Dear Gopher,
The answer to this, and other pieces of bad legislation, is to
have a jury judge it and nullify it.
John Wilson.
-----Original Message-----
From:
Gopher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To:
Recipient list suppressed <Recipient list suppressed>
Date:
Monday, 23 April 2001 6:17
Subject: Charging for
emails
Hi everyone
This is
NOT a joke, so please spend a few minutes to read it carefully.
'Australian Government Bill to Charge for Each EMAIL you send'
Following is an email that, is concerning for us all.
Below is the url for Senator Richard Alston the Minister
responsible. Please send an email to him voicing your strong
opposition
http://www.richardalston.dcita.gov.au/contact.html
Below is the text of the email .
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 Australia attempting to
quietly push through legislation that will affect our use of the
Internet. Under proposed legislation, the Australian 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.
Canberra lawyer Richard Stepp is working without
pay to prevent
this legislation from becoming law. The Australian
Postal Service
is claiming that 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 Australian 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
ordinary mail because of bad efficiency. It currently takes up
to 6
days for a letter to be delivered anywhere in Australia or
longer.
If the Australian Postal Service is allowed to interfere
with
E-mail, it will mark the end of the "free" Internet
in Australia
Our Canberra 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 Sun herald 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 to E-mail to EVERYONE on
your list, and tell your friends
and relatives to write to their
Canberra or local politician
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 this today.
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