Is this true??? -- e-mail surcharges by USPS

by bluesapphire 4 Replies latest jw experiences

• 

  bluesapphire

  I got this in my e-mail today and have heard something about it in the past. Does anyone know if this is really happening???

  Postage will go up the end of June 2002 from 34 cents to 37 cents. It will be from 9% to 12% rate increase.

  But this isn't all. 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 inefficiency.

  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. PLEASE FORWARD!
• 

  SixofNine

  Is this true??? -- e-mail surcharges by USPS

  nope.
• 

  dungbeetle

  http://www.urbanlegends.com/ulz/emailtax.html

  Is it true? No. It is a hoax.
  Why? Bill 602P does not exist.
  '602P' is not a valid name for a Congressional bill. Bills in the House of Representative are prefaced with 'H.R.'. Bills in the Senate are prefaced with 'S.'
  Congressman Tony Schnell does not exist.
  Lawyer Richard Stepp does not exist.
  The law firm of 'Berger, Stepp and Gorman' does not exist.
  There is no Concorde Street in Vienna, Virginia.
  As for per-minute charges for Internet access, the FCC, not the United States Congress, considered proposals to allow them but rejected the proposals in February 1999. The FCC says:

  Thus, the manner in which consumers pay for Internet access is not before the Commission and the Commission repeatedly has stated that it will not change the manner in which consumers obtain and pay for Internet access. Rumors to the contrary persist, however, and the FCC has received hundreds of thousands of e-mails on the subject over the last two years.
  
  When? April 1999
  Comments This hoax started life as a bill supposedly being considered in Canada (and no, it is not true there either). Someone changed all the Canadian references to American references and yet another Internet hoax was born.

  Recently variations have appeared that include warnings about toll fees for Internet access.
  
  See also Rebuttals
  Congress to Block Imaginary Internet Tax Bill from the Washington Post
  E-mail Rumor Completely Untrue from the United States Postal Service
  E-mail Tax Hoax from the US Department of Energy's Computer Incident Advisory Capability
  No Consumer Per-Minute Charges to Access ISPs from the Federal Communications Commission
  Other commentaries
  U.S Postal Tax on Email? from About.com
  A Long Pay From Home from the Urban Legends Reference Pages
• 

  bluesapphire

  Thanks DB! I had a feeling you would know.
• 

  NewLight2

  Have you also heard that:

  Macdonald's is going to start to collect a "tax" for every berger sold at Berger King?
  
  OR

  That Kmart is going to tax you for every item you buy at Target/Wal-mart?

  The reason being that Macdonalds and Kmart are losing revenue to their compitation!

  The above makes just about as much sense as the post office claiming they are going to charge for e-mail service which they don't even own!!

  NewLight2