How about this??????

[Glen Haggard]

I get these things all the time and have even written to my congressman and
senator about a couple of these warnings. Funny enough I usually get a
letter back telling me that they have no knowledge of such a bill and can
not find any information on them. I am not sure if this bill number in your
message (Bill 602P) is even legitimate or not. I would have to guess that it
probably is not true. Remember, big internet providers like AOL would have a
lot to say about such a bill as well as other computer type businesses.
Since these companies provide large donation to our politicians such a thing
maybe hard to pass and certainly would not be quiet. If someone can come up
with some more information on this subject I would be more willing to
believe it but until then I have to take the stance of "not believing
everything I read on the internet".

----- Original Message -----
From: charles w. morehouse <cwmorehouse at worldnet.att.net>
To: <HEATH at LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV>
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 1999 10:38 PM
Subject: How about this??????


> Hello all,
> If this not a joke it is scary. Got this in mail today.
> Wayne;
> W4GBW
>
> Subject:  Fair Warning
>
> Dear Internet Subscriber:
>
> 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. 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 efficiency. 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 ® 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 email to all Americans on your list and tell your friends and
> relatives to write to their congressman and say "No!" to Bill 602P.
>
> Assistant to Richard Stepp, Berger, Stepp and Gorman Attorneys at Law
> 216 Concorde Street, Vienna, Va.
>
>
> It's the action, not the fruit of the action that's important.  You have
> to do the right thing...  You may never know what results come from your
> action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result. (Gandhi)
>
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