Re: Fw: Congress to vote on allowing a toll charge for internet access]

[jeanlou.dupont () na marconicomms com]

What's even more disturbing is the fact that the US Congress thinks it can
control the Internet...
I thought the Internet was worldwide (read: not only in the USA) thing.

jld.





"Brad S. Dreisbach" <bradd () dn net> on 01/25/2000 01:27:42 PM

Please respond to "Brad S. Dreisbach" <bradd () dn net>

To:   nanog () merit edu
cc:    (bcc: Jeanlou Dupont/RMQ/RELTECCORP)

Subject:  Fw: Congress to vote on allowing a toll charge for internet access]






> 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 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 e-mail costing nearly $230,000,000 in revenue
> per year.  (Oh, isn't that too bad?)  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
> whose 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.