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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 internetaccess]
Just a general note, never mail anything to anyone else that says: "PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW WHO USES EMAIL" (or much of anything else written ALL-CAPS. See: http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html#emailtax http://www.kylgrafx.com/bill602.htm Charles On Tue, 25 Jan 2000, Brad S. Dreisbach wrote: > > 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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