Based on Ron's and Bruce's comments, I decided not to link to this story.
Rather, I just lifted it whole hog off of ABC's website and refuse to give
them any attribution at all. Nonetheless, I thought that you might enjoy it,
given that the same email has shown up here several times before.
Wirt Atmar
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By Brian Hartman & David Morgan
N E W Y O R K, Oct. 9 — An old Internet hoax has found a few more dupes,
this time making its way into a debate between New York Senate candidates
Rick Lazio and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
“I’d like to ask you how you stand on federal bill 602P,” moderator
Marcia Kramer, a correspondent for WCBS-TV, told the two rivals.
Mrs. Clinton shrugged her shoulders and looked puzzled. “I have no idea
what it is,” the first lady said.
Kramer offered to explain, saying “under the bill that’s now before
Congress, the U.S. Postal Service will bill e-mail users 5 cents for each
e-mail they send even though the post office provides no service.”
“Based on your description, I wouldn’t vote for that bill,” Mrs.
Clinton said.
“I am absolutely opposed to this,” Lazio said. “This is an example of
the government’s greedy hand in trying to take money from taxpayers that it
has no right to.”
But right down to the bill number, the story is a hoax. It spread like
wildfire last year, prompting a flood of consumer complaints to Congress, the
Postal Service and the Federal Communication Commission, which also was
falsely rumored to be considering an e-mail tax.
In May 1999, the USPS released a statement calling the 602P story a
“completely false rumor that is being circulated on Internet e-mail.”
“The e-mail message claims that a ‘Congressman Schnell’ has introduced
‘Bill 602P’ to allow the federal government to impose a 5-cent surcharge on
each e-mail message delivered over the Internet. The money would be collected
by Internet Service Providers and then turned over to the Postal Service,”
the statement says.
There is no Congressman Schnell. Dozens of real members of Congress
released statements denying the existence of the bill and asking voters to be
more vigilant.
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The E-Mail That Started It All
Following is the text of a widely circulated e-mail that falsely claimed the
government was planning to tax Internet e-mail.
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 l 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.
Please forward!
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