In the past week I have received two messages forwarded from all over the US regarding a postal tax on Internet email. I have located my congressman's web site and am enclosing his web address and text of his message on the subject. I am sending this message for two reasons. 1) Most of the stuff that is sent to you, like this, is a hoax. Someone gets a burr up their saddle and wants to see how long it will take for such a rumor to get around. It is malicious even if they thought it would be funny. You should NOT forward messages like this unless you research them and find them to be true. I went to the House and Senate web sites and searched all of the bills pending in Congress and finally found this on Cong. Edward's web site. And you shouldn't forward messages because 2) there are viruses being concocted that are attached to email. Surely you heard about Malissa last year. If you forward an email that has a virus then you spread it to everyone on your mailing list. If you choose to resend something that is sent to you, PLEASE use the Copy/Paste feature in your email reader. a) Click and drag your mouse over the text you want to resend. b) Go to EDIT|Copy in the Menu Bar (CTRL+C). c) Open a new message window. d) In the body of the message use EDIT|Paste from the Menu Bar (CTRL+V). This will copy the text from the first message to the new message without any virus. It also cuts out all of the constant repetition of all of the times the message has been forwared. And while I am mentioning email problems, every once in a while I am sent an email with an EXE file attached. With the online post cards becoming a big thing you might get one from a friend. Be very careful about opening email attachments with an EXE extension. Generally post cards can be retrieved from a web site, not your email. If you get an email eith Happy99.exe attached - DO NOT OPEN IT! That is a virus that will erase many necessary files on your computer. Should it happen, I have found a site that gives the remedy. But it is very difficult to correct. It is easier to reformat your hard drive and start over. Please do not send your friends EXE files. This note is just a note of service. No response is necessary. If you have a question, please feel free to write. ============================================================ The Congressional Web Site and message of my Congressman. http://www.house.gov/edwards/pr990723webchrg.html Edwards says keep Internet open and free It is a testament to the power of the Internet that two persistent rumors keep popping up in the e-mail boxes of Central Texans. One e-mail warns recipients that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is planning to impose long distance usage charges on consumer access to the Internet. I have contacted the FCC and have been assured they have no intention of making any changes in the way consumers obtain and pay for access to the Internet. A fact sheet and FAQ on the Internet charge issue is available at the Federal Communications Commission web site. I am also a cosponsor H.R. 1291, the Internet Access Charge Prohibition Act of 1999 that amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the FCC from imposing any access charge that is based on a measure of the time that telecommunications services are used for Internet usage. In other words, Internet users will not be charged as if they made a long distance call everytime they surf the Web. The other rumor concerns non-existent legislation that claims a “Congressman Schnell” has recently introduced “Bill 602P.” Supposedly, this bogus bill would allow the federal government to impose a 5-cent surcharge on all e-mail messages. The surcharge would be collected by the United States Postal Service (USPS). This rumor is FALSE. There is no Congressman Schnell and there is no Bill 602P. The USPS has also stated they would not contemplate having the legislation introduced, nor would they support it if it was proposed. As far as I'm concerned any attempt to charge for e-mail would be a dead link. Cong. Chet Edwards, 11th Cong. Dist, TX --- This email is going to Jim's email list and to the Rootsweb List which is why you might get two copies. Please email inman@surnameweb.org if you wish to be removed from this list.