I just received the following concerning a Bill to charge for the use of
email. I think it's worth looking into since it certainly would negatively
affect mailing lists/listservs and in general destroy the basis of
solidarities that email has allowed.
Paul H. Dillon
>
>
> >Hi--
> > Forwarding. I never heard of Bill 602P. I
> >have no idea whether the report below has any
> >validity, but if it does it sure would put me out
> >of business.
> > Best,
> > Bob
> >----------
> >Some interesting information. You might want to
> >check it
> >out.
> >
> >VOTE NO ON Bill 602P!!!!
> > I guess the warnings were true. Federal Bill 602P
> >
> >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 efficiency. 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. Our
> >congressional representative, Tony Schnell ? 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
> >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.
> >
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Mar 01 2001 - 01:01:17 PST