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Sent: Monday, January 22, 2001 4:43 PM
Subject: Write your congressman
ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> VOTE NO ON Bill 602P!!!!
>
>
> 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 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.
>
> Our congressional representative, Tony Schnell ? 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 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!
