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Email Hoax- Explained

Postal Service Wants 5 Cents an Email

You may have received an email about how the US Postal Service
is trying to push through a bill that would allow them to charge...

by Rocky Ramsey

You may have received an email about how the US Postal Service
is trying to push through a bill that would allow them to charge
5 cents per email.  I can understand why people would think that
it's true.  The Postal Service had nothing to do with the email
being sent and they aren't going to give you anything for the 5
cents.  Sure sounds like a government agency.

The email is a hoax.  What's amazing to me is that it started
in 1999 and is still making its way around the Internet.  If you
haven't seen the email, you can see an example of the email and
more information about it on the Urban Legends Reference Page
(http://www.snopes.com/business/taxes/bill602p.asp). 

I wouldn't be surprised by the Postal Service wanting to do
something like this, which is one of the reasons this email has
been mistaken by so many people as being real.  The U.S. Postal
Service currently has an electronic postmark available to
businesses who want to use it.  You send your email through the
Postal Services servers and they put a postmark on it for a
price.  It works similar to snail mail - you send email to their
server and it may or may not make it to your recipient.  USPS
website (http://www.usps.com).

If you want to know about a bill before the Senate or Congress,
go to the source.  You can check on any bill before Congress or
the Senate at Thomas - The US Congress on the Internet
(http://thomas.loc.gov).

If the Postal Service did put a 5 cent tax on email, it
wouldn't be the end of the Internet.  There are a number of
ways to communicate without using email.

Prior to the Internet groups used Bulletin Board Systems (BBS)
to communicate and trade files by dialing into a central
computer and establishing a connection over a phone line. 
Yahoo Groups and Topica Groups are basically doing the same
thing now, but over the Internet.  These BBS systems allow
people to trade messages without the use of email.

Something I'm looking into for my ezine is Really Simple
Syndicator (RSS).  The idea behind this is to post headlines
on my website and a program running on your computer would
read these when they're available.  No email needed.  With
the problems of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) blocking
email, even from trusted sources, in the future it may be a
necessity for ezine publishers to continue to publish.

I know it's old fashioned, but there's always the option of
using the Fax and Phone to communicate.

Finally there's the possibility of a private Internet that
bypasses government involvement altogether.  Most of you that
work for a company of any size are using an intranet - a
company-wide Internet that is only accessible to people who
work for your company.  An extranet is an intranet that allows
access from people outside the company.  By connecting the
extranets, it would be possible to create a private Internet.

Rocky Ramsey publishes Movies, Money and More - Movie reviews, entertainment, humor, money, contests, sweepstakes, freebies, and more http://www.MoviesMoneyandMore.com Get a 3 day 2 night vacation just for visiting.


Here's what it looked like, Subject: 5-cents per email. Federal Bill 602P

Please Read Carefully & Forward.....and write your representatives in congress (they all have internet sites). 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 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.
...

Here's what USPS had to say about it

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 21, 1999
Release No. 99-045

E-MAIL RUMOR COMPLETELY UNTRUE

WASHINGTON -- A completely false rumor concerning the U.S. Postal Service is being circulated on Internet e-mail. As a matter of fact, the Postal Service has learned that a similar hoax occurred recently in Canada concerning Canada Post.

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.

No such proposed legislation exists. In fact, no "Congressman Schnell" exists.

The U.S. Postal Service has no authority to surcharge e-mail messages sent over the Internet, nor would it support such legislation.

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