I have received at least 6 email warnings regarding a Congressional bill, which will provide for a 5-cent surcharge on Internet mail. I have decided to set the record straight (since so many can not):

The Bill: "Bill 602P will permit the Federal Govt to charge a 5 cent surcharge on every email delivered, by billing Internet Service Providers at source…blah…blah…blah…(Read the full text here if you want)

The facts on the US version (the Canadian and Australlian versions are also false): 

** This legend started around April of 1999 (April 1st, perhaps?) 
** There is NO Congressional bill "P-602". In the US, bills from the Senate begin with the letter "S", and from      the House begin with the letter "H" (didn't we learn this stuff in College?) 
** There is no congressman Tony Schnell (r), who is referenced in the mailings.
** The US Version has a reply-to address of: Kate Turner , Assistant to Richard Stepp, Berger, Stepp and      Gorman, Attorneys at Law, 216 Concorde Street, Vienna, Va. (By the way, there is NO CONCORDE ST      in Vienna, VA).

** U.S. Postal Service rebuttal: was at http://www.usps.gov/news/press/99/rumor.htm, but since been moved or deleted. If anyone finds it, please send me the url.

** The Washingtonian's comments on the matter, which "apparently" reported on this bill: http://www.washingtonian.com/about/emailhoax.html

** U.S. Department of Energy comments: http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/cgi-bin/mfs/www/hoaxbusters/archive?link=http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/HBUrbanMyths.shtml&file=/www/hoaxbusters/HBUrbanMyths.shtml&line=384#mfs
 

** Additional information: 
http://www.snopes2.com/inboxer/pending/email.htm
http://www.netsquirrel.com/combatkit/postage.html

No other comments from me at this time…anything I missed?

p.s.:   Please do a little research before sending hoaxes to everyone, people...

The full text of the HOAX: 

Subject: E-MAIL SURCHARGE 

Dear Internet Subscriber: 

Please read the following carefully if you intend to stay online and continue using email: 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 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 bureacratic 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 (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 who's time has come" March 6th 1999 Editorial) Don't sit by and watch your freedoms erode away! 

Send this email to all Americans on your list and tell your friends and relatives to write to their congressman and say "No!" to Bill 602P. 

Kate Turner Assistant to Richard Stepp, Berger, Stepp and Gorman Attorneys at Law 216 Concorde Street, Vienna, Va. 

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