Somewhat Off-Topic:To Americans--Vote no on Internet taxes BILL 602P
I realize that this is a tech mailing list, but the following issues will
effect everyone who is online in America. The proposed tax bills cannot be
allowed to pass.
>Subject: Vote no on Internet taxes BILL 602P
>
>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
>http://www.house.gov/writerep
>
>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 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
>bureaucratic 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.
>
>PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW WHO USES EMAIL REMEMBER THESE ARE TWO
>SEPARATE ISSUES THAT EFFECT ALL OF US ONLINE LET
>YOUR VOICE BE HEARD NOW, NOT AFTER.
>
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