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North American Network Operators Group Date Prev | Date Next | Date Index | Thread Index | Author Index | Historical Re: Fw: Congress to vote on allowing a toll charge for internet access]
With all due respect to keepign nanog readers informed, please don't spam nanog with the "modem tax" revisited. There is no such bill; senate bills are not numbered in this manner. Please do not harass your congressmen unless you have good reason. Ehud >> >> CNN has reported that within the next two weeks Congress is going to >> vote on allowing telephone companies to CHARGE A TOLL FEE for Internet >> access. Translation: Every time we send a long distance e-mail we >> will receive a long distance charge. This will get costly. >> Please visit the following web site and file a complaint to your >> Congressperson. >> We can't allow this to pass! The following address will allow you to >> send an e-mail on this subject DIRECTLY to your Congressperson. >> http://www.house.gov/writerep >> Pass this on to your friends. It is urgent! I hope all of you will pass >> this on to all your friends and family. We should ALL have an interest >> in this one. >> WAIT, THERE'S MORE! IN ADDITION, 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 e-mail costing nearly $230,000,000 in revenue >> per year. (Oh, isn't that too bad?) 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 bureaucratic 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 >> whose 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. >> >> PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW WHO USES EMAIL >> REMEMBER THESE ARE TWO SEPARATE ISSUES THAT EFFECT >> ALL OF US ONLINE LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD NOW, NOT AFTER. >>
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