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Archiver > CT-CENSUS-LOOKUP > 2001-10 > 1004349162


From: Sharon Gagnon <>
Subject: [CT-CENSUS] Federal Bill 602P
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2001 04:52:42 -0500 (EST)


I received this e-mail this morning. You might want to
check it out.

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 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 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!

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