no more free email?

[Don Harrop]

I know this is way off topic but I'd like to find out if anyone else knows
any validity behind this email I got.  This can't be true... If it is it's
time for a revolution against our greedy government!

Don


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 
analarming 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 noninterference.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.

One 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.