Hi, this is OT, but IMO, it will potientially affect everyone
here. I have heard about that that Bill Gate and other big
tech players have been trying to get email charged for a
while. However, I have not heard of anything on the main
stream media. But I got this message (below) forwarded to me
from a friend today and I wonder if anyone here knows about
any updates on the issue, or if the information in the message
is accurate. If they start charging for sending email 5 cents
each, how about posting to ng like this (will it be charged,
too)? Can't imagine how it would affect usnet newsgroup. I
really hope that this won't happen but I don't know what I
can do. How can we "keep it free"? In addition to comments
and updates, suggestions regarding what one could do would
also be good (e.g., spread the words about this if one is
running a newsletter of some kind).
Message started:
Federal Bill 602P-Mail Charge
Guess the warnings were true. Federal Bill 602P charges
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
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" Inter net in the United
States.
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 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!
-- RL
