> Please read the following carefully if you intend to stay online and
> continue using email:
>
> 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 email 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 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.
|