Alastair Johnstone (aljohnstone@brunnet.net)
Thu, 20 May 1999 17:16:33 -0300
This is exactly like a hoax message that was passed around on another list
I'm on. The only (I repeat only) difference is that they use US govt instead
of Canadian. Its bull don't worry about it.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: astrid and rene [mailto:hellhexx@netscape.net]
> Sent: Thursday, May 20, 1999 3:47 PM
> To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca;
> alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
> Subject: Re: Urgent: government trying to charge for email!!
> Importance: High
>
>
> Hello everyone......
>
> I'm a fourth year photo student. Forgive me as this does not
> pertain to the
> alternative issues we discuss but I feel that it will affect
> our list if this
> course of action is not stopped. I was passed this email by
> my boss today and
> I think it will be of interest to all of you who rely on
> electronic mail to
> discuss our livlihood. Please take a moment and read this
> and if you can
> respond to as many people as possible and tell them what the
> government wants
> to do with our FREE e-mail. Once again, please forward this
> letter to as many
> people as you can!!
>
> Subject: Fw: don't delete read this please ... charging
> for email
>
> Dave Briggs
> pullmandave@juno.com
>
> DON'T DELETE THIS ONE
> > STOP OUR GOV 'T FROM TAMPERING WITH OUR
> > FREE E-MAIL !!!!
> >
> > Please read the following carefully if you intend to
> stay online
> and ontinue 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. 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 bureacratic
>
> 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 who's 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.
>
> Kate Turner
> > Assistant to Richard Stepp, Berger, Stepp and Gorman
> > Attorneys at Law 216 Concorde Street, Vienna, V
>
>
>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Thu Oct 28 1999 - 21:39:34