wojtek
>>
>> VOTE NO ON Bill 602P!!!!
>
> 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 that
>> due to the proliferation of E-mail, it is losing
> $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 to 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.
> 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 (R) N.J., 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 to 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.
>>
>