NO e-mail Tax

Hi all, I've pretty much been a lurker since joining the mailing list not
too long ago, only feeling like posting something if it warranted
importance. Well, I received this letter recently and felt it wasn't on the
topic of Spelljammer, but certainly important for the mailing list in
general. Some of you may have heard of this news already, but for those of
you who haven't.....
Please, everyone, get word of this around!


>>Subject: Gov't want's to Charge 5 cent for Each E-Mail Sent
>>> >
>>> >Bill 602P will permit the Federal Govt. to charge a 5 cent
>>> >charge on every delivered email
>>> >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 your use of the Internet.  Under proposed
>>> >legislation the US Postal Service will be attempting to bill
>>> >E-mail users out of "alternate postage fees."
>>> >   Bill 602P will permit the Federal Govt. 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 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 email 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 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 efficiency.  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 =AE 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 who's 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.
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