5 cents an email?

[mc mark]

Has anyone else heard of this? And is it true?


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 (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 to 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 wedo not want.




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I am the thread killer

[bobrek]

It is NOT true. This has been floating around for a couple of years. There is no bill named "602P". There is no representative name Schnell. To verify this kind of garbage in the future have a look at the following URL:
http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/

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This is truly the rumor that refuses to die.

The official USPS website has had info about this false story on their website for more than a year, but it still keeps making the rounds.



[This message has been edited by rascal (edited October 09, 2000).]

[mrpaige]

Even Hillary and Rick Lazio fell for this one in their Senate debate.

From USA Today:

E-mail tax hoax slips into N.Y. Senate race
By Janet Kornblum

If you fell for an e-mail hoax that says a pending law would allow the Postal Service to put a 5-cent tax on e-mail, don't feel too bad. Apparently so did Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rick Lazio, vying for a U.S. Senate seat from New York.

When asked a question submitted via e-mail, both were staunch in their opposition to the legislation during a debate Sunday. Lazio even called it ''an example of the government's greedy hand in trying to take money from taxpayers that frankly it has no right to.''

Of course, there is no bill. Never has been. The Postal Service says it wouldn't support such a bill if there were one. The question put to the candidates originated in a widespread e-mail hoax.

That worries people such as Lauren Weinstein, one of many Net volunteers who has worked to combat such hoaxes. This particular official-sounding e-mail discussing ''Federal Bill 602P'' has been around for more than a year, but for some reason (perhaps because of the elections) it appears to have gone mainstream recently.

''It was very disconcerting to realize the mere mention of this is going to resurrect the hoax to new levels as people get all energized to fight a tax that does not and has not existed,'' says Weinstein, co-founder of People for Internet Responsibility. ''You just put your head in your hands and say, 'Here we go again.' ''

Unfortunately, Net hoaxes are a lot like viruses. They can spread quickly and efficiently and infect just about anyone. Even senatorial candidates.

So if you get an e-mail you suspect could be a hoax, it probably is. Warning flags: messages that have been forwarded repeatedly and ask you to continue forwarding them; e-mails with news that you should have heard through normal channels but haven't; and of course, e-mails that simply make outrageous claims. If you want to know for sure, visit any number of sites that keep track of hoaxes. A few are listed alongside this column. It might save you, or a beloved candidate, some embarrassment.

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[mc mark]

Thanks guys,

Fortunately, I have not forwarded it on to anyone. I wanted to make sure before I did.

Can we delete this thread now?


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I am the thread killer