[pct-l] Vote NO on Bill 602P!

[latte94@foothill.net (Valerie)]

I know that this is off the subject but I just thought that everyone
would like to see the Crock of **** that is happening out there! Please
take this serious, it came from a VERY resourceful person in the
computer industry! Hope everyone does what they can to prevent this from
happening!

Valerie


Vote NO on Bill 602P!

 I guess the warnings were true. Federal Bill 602P
 proposes 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 on-line, 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 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. A 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 to 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!
 VOTE NO on Bill 602P! >>