I just received this email, don't know if there is any truth to it or not.

Ryan Ehsani,
Nobix Inc.
[log in to unmask]


-----Original Message-----
         Subject:       E-MAIL CHARGES ARE A COMING


                   Subject:     Congress to Allow E-mail Charges

Please pass this on to all you know. Since many of us use e-mail for
business and to keep up with friends and family, I thought you'd like
to
know the following. Please jump on it right away and forward this to
others.
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 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
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 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 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 US
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 6, 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.