Date:         Tue, 12 Sep 2000 16:12:47 -0700
Reply-To:     PSavage <psavage@SABER.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         PSavage <psavage@SABER.NET>
Subject:      Proposed Bill 602P/Email charge  (no vw content)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Well Volks,
Better take a look at this.  This would certainly change the ability of
lists like this one to continue to function.
Please read this thru & follow up.
Phaedra
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VOTE NO ON Bill 602P!


I guess the warnings were true. Federal Bill
602P 5-cents per E-mail Sent. It figures!
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 efficiency. 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. Our 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 to E-mail to EVERYONE on your list,
and tell all your friends and relatives 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.