Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 15:11:29 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Aaron Haines Subject: Fwd: Land of the free - but not on the internet Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/html

I think this bill will definately have an effect on public listserves everywhere in the US. 

>>Subject: BILL 602-P
>>
>>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
>>non-interference. 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. 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
>>E-mail to EVERYONE on your list, and tell all
>>your friends and relatives to
>>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.
>

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