A call to computer users ....

CNN has reported that within the next two weeks Congress is going to vote on allowing telephone companies to CHARGE A TOLL FEE for Internet access. Translation: Every time we send a long distance e-mail we will receive a long distance charge. This will get costly. Please visit the following web site and file a complaint. Complain to your Congressperson. We can't allow this to pass! The following address will allow you to send an e-mail on this subject DIRECTLY to your Congressperson.

http://www.house.gov/writerep

or Write Your Representative - Lookup Representative

Pass this on to your friends. It is urgent! I hope all of you will pass this on to all your friends and family. We should ALL have an interest in this one.

WAIT, THERE'S MORE. IN ADDITION, 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 US Postal Service will be attempting to milk e-mail users out of "alternate postage fees." Bill 602P will permit the Federal Gov't 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 that lost revenue due to the proliferation of e-mail 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 e-mail 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 US Postal Service for a service they do not even provide. The whole point of the Internet is democracy and noninterference. If the federal government is permitted to tamper with our liberties by adding a surcharge to e-mail, who knows where it will end. 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 New York to Buffalo. 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.

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 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.

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.

PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW WHO USES EMAIL AND REMEMBER THESE ARE TWO SEPARATE ISSUES THAT EFFECT ALL OF US ONLINE. LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD NOW, NOT AFTER IT'S TOO LATE

-- Bill P (porterwn@one.net), February 02, 2000

Answers

Bill:

This is a persistent hoax that seems to be reposted here about once a week. There is no Rep Tony Schnell and there is no Bill 602P. Go to http://www.urbanlegends.com/ulz/emailtax.html for more information. It's a good idea to go to the Urban Legends site before you post anything of this nature - saves a lot of embarassment :)

-- Jim Cooke (JJCooke@yahoo.com), February 02, 2000.

You know, I'm really starting to feel sorry for the intended beneficiaries of Bill 602P (assuming there is one in this year's legislative load). Probably special bennies to grannies born on groundhog's day, or something. But NOOOOOooooo, every few months (for years now??), the American people are told to contact their Congressman to express vehement opposition to Bill 602P. Will this rumor NEVER DIE???!!

-- Had it (with@detractors.of.bill.602P), February 02, 2000.

Please, friends, check with an Urban Legends or Hoax-buster site like Wooden Spoons or Kumite before sending along items like this. Sites like these have copious descriptions of legends, myths, and hoxes which are making the rounds. This may save you some embarrassment and the rest of us some time and bandwidth...

-- DeeEmBee (macbeth1@pacbell.net), February 02, 2000.

This is only a very tired urban legend. Nothing to it. I'm surprised this is STILL making the rounds.

-- Irving (irvingf@myremarq.co), February 02, 2000.

Jim Cooke,

Thanks for the URL. I will check before posting next time.

Sysops, please delete this thread.

DELETE.

-- Bill P (porterwn@one.net), February 02, 2000.

how many of the 'news items' here are similar hoaxes.

-- makes you wonder (makes@you.wonder.net), February 02, 2000.

No, no, leave this thread alone. It's a lesson for everyone.

Getting suckered this way is embarrassing, but it has happened to everyone one way or another.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), February 02, 2000.