I don't know how this would be enforced. Email works between SMTP clients. My SMTP agent (or my ISPs SMTP agent) connects directly to your SMTP agent ) or your ISP's SMTP agent) and packets are sent. There is no middle man. Unless your ISP was tasked with tracking and collecting this charge, there would be no way for big brother to get in the middle. This is why all these emails you see about if you email a lot of people you can earn a sum of money are hoaxes. No one, other that the SMTP agent on each side of the transfer, knows that the email was sent. -----Original Message----- From: Linda Pitts [mailto:lindapitts@cafes.net] Sent: Thursday, June 29, 2000 8:11 PM To: PRUITT-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [PRUITT-L] Fw: Charges for e-mail > Dear Group, I have just received this message regarding proposed bill for > e-mail charges. I don't know if there is any truth to it or not but > considered it worth passing along. > > Subject: VOTE NO ON Bill 602P > 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 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. > > Please forward! > > > ==== PRUITT Mailing List ==== Remember, only Pruitt list subscribers can post messages to the list. To subscribe or unsubscribe in SINGLE MESSAGE mode, send an email to Pruitt-L-request@rootsweb.com with only the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the body of your letter. To subscribe or unsubscribe in DIGEST MODE, send an email to: Pruitt-D-request@rootsweb.com with only the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the body of your letter.