----- Original Message -----
From: <Gpaltrin@aol.com>
To: <Abbottef@aol.com>; Skip Berry <sberry@nh.ultranet.com>;
<Oldedepot@aol.com>; Adrian Curtis <ascurtis@lr.net>; Bob Dastin
<rdastin@sheehan.com>; <Ajdj9@aol.com>; Ray Eberling
<eberling@tampabay.rr.com>; <AFerru13@aol.com>; <Gittlein@aol.com>; Mike
Hughes <mwhughes@tiac.net>; Reggie Jones <rhjod@tpk.net>;
<Mblougee@aol.com>; John & Vicki Marcinkevich <teamautonh@mediaone.net>;
<MARLYNMILL@aol.com>; Russ Northrop <northrops@ttlc.net>;
<Gpaltrin@aol.com>; <Zaiglin@aol.com>; Steve Pothier jackrobb@ibm.net (Jack
Robb) <sp513@columbia.edu>; BobRenselear <renslaer@nh.ultranet.com>; John
Slauson <WTSB20A@prodigy.com>; Ned Swartz <nswartz@earthlink.net>;
<TiltsBuzz@aol.com>; PatriciaJoinville Wynne <WWYNNE@MEDIAONE.NET>; Norm
Yeaton <nyeaton@erols.com>; <tanker@cybertours.com Joseph A. Wright>; <II)>;
<WColby2224@aol.com>; <LGoodstone@aol.c
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 1999 7:20 PM
Subject: e-mail surcharge
>
> >>>Subject: U.S. Postal Service to charge for YOUR e-mail
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>> I'm in the wrong business. Why can't I charge the public for revenue
> >>I've
> >>>> lost?
> >>>> Read on...
> >>>>
> >>>> Please read the following carefully if you intend to stay online and
> >>>> continue
> >>>> using email: 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 your use of the Internet. Under
> >proposed
> >>>> legislation the U.S. Postal Service will be attempting to bilk email
> >>>users
> >>>> out of "alternate postage fees". Bill 602P will permit the Federal
> >Govt
> >>>to
> >>>> charge a 5 cent surcharge on every email delivered, by
> >>>> billing Internet Service Providers at source. The consumer would
> >then be
> >>>> billed in turn by the ISP. Washington D.C. lawyer Richard Stepp is
> >>>working
> >>>> without pay to prevent this legislation from becoming law.
> >>>>
> >>>> The U.S. Postal Service is claiming that lost revenue due to the
> >>>> proliferation of email 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 citizen received about 10 pieces of email per day
> >in
> >>>1998,
> >>>>
> >>>> the cost to the typical individual would be an additional 50 cents
> >per
> >>>day,
> >>>>
> >>>> or over $180 dollars per year, above and beyond their regular
> >Internet
> >>>> costs. Note that this would be money paid directly to the U.S.
> >Postal
> >>>> Service for a service they do not even provide. The whole point of
> >the
> >>>> Internet is democracy and non-interference. If the federal
> >government
> >>is
> >>>> permitted to tamper with our liberties by adding a surcharge to
> >email,
> >>>who
> >>>> knows where it will end. You are already paying an exorbitant price
> >for
> >>>> snail mail because of bureacratic inefficiency. It currently takes
> >up
> >>to
> >>>6
> >>>>
> >>>> days for a letter to be delivered from New York to Buffalo.
> >>>>
> >>>> If the U.S. Postal Service is allowed to tinker with email, it will
> >mark
> >>>the
> >>>>
> >>>> end of the "free" Internet in the United States. One congressman,
> >Tony
> >>>> Schnell (r) has even suggested a "twenty to forty dollar per month
> >>>surcharge
> >>>>
> >>>> on all Internet service" above and beyond the government's proposed
> >email
> >>>> charges. Note that most of the major newspapers have ignored the
> >story,
> >>>the
> >>>>
> >>>> only exception being the Washingtonian which called the idea of email
> >>>> surcharge "a useful concept who's time has come" (March 6th 1999
> >>>Editorial.
> >>>>
> >>>> Don't sit by and watch your freedoms erode away!
> >>>>
> >>>> Send this e-mail to EVERYONE on your list, and tell all your friends
> >and
> >>>> relatives to write to their congressman 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 don't want.
> >>>>
> >>>> Kate Turner
> >>>> Assistant to Richard Stepp, Berger, Stepp and Gorman
> >>>> Attorneys at Law 216 Concorde Street, Vienna, VA
>
|