Internet Email TAX !!!!

[BallBuster]

I have not researched this.. A friend just sent it to me


Guess the warnings were true. Federal Bill 602P charges 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
revent 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
inefficiency. 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.

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 EVERYONE you know, and tell all your friends and relatives
to 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.

[Colonel Savage]

It's not bad enough people send this chain letter crap to each other via e-mail, you have to post it here as well? C'mon...

Here's your e-mail tax, debunked:

http://antivirus.about.com/cs/hoaxes/p/emailtax.htm

[Conscious* Profile]

At least you wouldn't get much spam anymore

[PudriK Profile]

Even a 0.1 cent tax on email would make email SPAM a lot less profitable, but it not enforceable.

Regardless, this is just another chain letter.

First rule of email: if it has FWD in the subject line, it's probably bullshit.

It's sad how many times I've had to send emails at work telling everyone to disregard and not forward the last "warning" chain letter because it's a hoax.

[Ralph Wiggum]

I believe any proposal for an e-mail tax would have a generous personal exemption of several thousand e-mails a year before the tax/postage kicked in, so it wouldn't be a problem for the average user. It sure would screw the spamming business though. But, like Pudrik, I can't see anyway to enforce it worldwide.