[meteorite-list] Charge for e MAIL 5 cents per e-mail

From: Tim Heitz <midwestmeteor_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:44:44 2004
Message-ID: <018d01c0b967$c7b26060$6501a8c0_at_3rdbedroom>

This could very well effect everyone world wide, thought it would
be alright to inform everyone whats coming our way


Subject: Charge for e MAIL


 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 on-line
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 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.

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
inefficiency. 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.

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 E-mail to EVERYONE on your list, and tell
all your friends and
relatives to 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.

 PLEASE FORWARD!
Received on Fri 30 Mar 2001 05:17:06 PM PST