This untrue rumor has been floating around for awhile now. There is no such
bill, so I'd say it doesn't have a prayer. And no, USPS executives are not
stupid about anything that you have mentioned and are well aware that
e-commerce is adding revenue. They (USPS executives) have long battled this
rumor, and anyone who introduces such a bill may have strong holdings in
FedEx or UPS or those other 'express' companies. It is unprofessional to
make the statements you have made about USPS executives when you haven't
got all the facts.
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: USGov to tax email?!
Author: [EMAIL PROTECTED] at INTERNET
Date: 8/23/00 10:55 AM
OK - I received this today from a friend.
Since I send 5 times the average email (you noticed right?)
this got my attention!
I remember the 'bad old days' when we paid per transaction
for email and my MCIMail Bill was 3 times more than
my 'phone bill, and I could not even afford to send much on
Compuserve 'cos I got a discount on MCIMail!!
Does anyone know if this Federal Bill actually has a prayer?
Anyone know an update on the status?
There is an election coming up - I'd have thought thinking people
would realize that this is not a smart move right now!!
Plus - how dumb are USPS executives? They'd have to hire
more staff than they can find if all my email came as postal mail,
plus the explosion of package services is directly due to
eCommerce. I guess they only did basic math in 1st Grade and after
that they kinda got lost with that tough algeebrah stuff and graphs
and charts and things.
DW.
-------------Forwarded Message-----------------
MORE TAXES !!
I 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 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 non-interference. 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 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 Our 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 to E-mail to EVERYONE on your list, and tell all your friends
and
relatives 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.
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