Re: Off Topic

["Alan Imberg" <alan_i@sprynet.com>]

As Kim pointed out to me, this is a hoax. I apologize and will be more
careful.




> Please forgive this non-looping e-mail. However, being that e-mail is an
> integral part of this lists functionality, I thought you would be
interested
> in this item that was forwarded to me. I checked on the bill. It for 
>real.
>
>
> > >>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 US
> > >>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 DC lawyer
> > >>Richard Stepp is working without pay to prevent this legislation
> > >>from
> > >>becoming law.
> > >>
> > >>The US 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 US Postal
> > >>Service for a service they do not even provide. The
> > >>whole point of the Internet is democracy and
> > >>noninterference. 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 bureaucratic
> > >>efficiency. It currently takes up to 6 days for a
> > >>letter to be delivered from New York to Buffalo.
> > >>
> > >>If the US 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 email to all Americans on your list and tell
> > >>your friends and relatives to write to their
> > >>congressman and say "No!" to Bill 602P. Kate Turner
> > >>Assistant to Richard Stepp, Berger, Stepp and Gorman
> > >>Attorneys at Law 216 Concorde Street, Vienna, Va.
> > >
> >
>
>