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To: John Pitera who wrote (70354)	10/20/1999 12:15:00 PM
From: bill meehan	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 86076

OT (If there is such a thing here) This is urgent that you read this a respond. Could cost us our internet > freedom > > > Please read the following carefully if you intend to stay on-line 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 bill 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 noninterference. > 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 bureaucratic > 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 (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 whose time has come" (March 6th 1999 Editorial) > Don't sit by and watch your freedom 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 > Kate Turner Assistant to Richard Stepp, Berger, Stepp and Gorman > Attorneys at Law > 216 Concorde Street, Vienna, VA > > URGENT!!!! Pass this along to all your email buddies