Re: government jerks

NOTE:  The article below indicates that the proposed rumor about taxing
internet usage is a hoax.

__________________________
May 21, 1999: 6:03 p.m. ET


                      WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A. (NB) -- By Robert MacMillan 
and
                      Martin Stone, Newsbytes. Before letting your 
Doberman pinscher off
                      the leash next time the mailman comes by, or firing 
off an angry salvo
                      at Postmaster General William Henderson, keep in 
mind that the latest
                      Internet rumor circulating about the US Postal 
Service applying an
                      e-mail tax is a hoax. 
                         US e-mail account holders now are receiving a 
rumor in their
                      inboxes that first surfaced in Canada last month. As 
Newsbytes
                      reported, the Canada Post Corp. said it was 
surprised by complaints
                      that they were planning to tax e-mail to pick up on 
declining revenues
                      from regular snail-mail. 
                         Recently, many hundreds of e-mail messages have 
been circulated
                      stating that Canada Post hopes to institute a 5-cent 
tax on e-mail. 
                         The hoax message, complete with what appears to 
be the address
                      of a Toronto law firm, states that Canada Post hopes 
to earn $23
                      million (CDN) annually through the tax. The message 
claimed that
                      Canada Post and the federal government were 
conspiring to quietly
                      push the bill through procedures and into law. 
                         The US version of the rumor claims that the US 
government
                      wants to recoup on $230 million, 10 times the 
original reported
                      amount. 
                         But sharp-eyed recipients soon detected that the 
mailing was a
                      sham. The law firm that claims to have sent the 
missive does not
                      exist, nor does the proposed Bill 602P, nor does its 
supposed
                      sponsor, Liberal Member of Parliament Tony Schnell. 
                         Likewise the US version of the hoax reads that 
the "evil"
                      Republican Congressman Tony Schnell (apparently he 
switched
                      parties when he crossed over from the Great White 
North) is looking
                      into the idea of charging an extra $20 to $40 per 
month as an ISP tax.

                         Newsbytes notes that in Congress the Senate 
designates it bills as
                      S.(number), such as S. 96 or S. 448; the House 
likewise designates
                      its bills as H.R.(number), such as H.R. 10 or H.R. 
2392. Senate
                      resolutions are known as S. Res., and House joint 
resolutions are
                      known as H.J. Res. Unfortunately, the hoax 
perpetrators kept the
                      false Canadian bill-labeling system on the US 
version of the
                      non-existent bill. 
                         Finally, the US report notes that a lawyer based 
in Vienna, Va.,
                      Richard Stepp, of the law firm Berger, Stepp and 
Gorman, has been
                      working tirelessly and without pay to thwart 
Congress's dark plans.
                      Stepp and his law firm do not exist, though reliable 
sources claim
                      Vienna, a small beltway-straddling suburban town in 
Northern
                      Virginia, is real. 
                         Postal sleuths tracked the e-mail to its source, 
reportedly a
                      discussion group based in Arizona. The Canada postal 
service
                      demanded an apology, retraction, and the removal of 
the offending
                      material from the site. 
                         The US Postal Service has a medium-sized 
announcement on its
                      home page that says "E-Mail Rumor Completely 
Untrue." According
                      to the agency's official statement, "The US Postal 
Service has no
                      authority to surcharge e-mail messages sent over the 
Internet, nor
                      would it support such legislation." 
                         Internet observers say the ease of messaging 
through postings and
                      e-mail has given birth to a number of similar 
hoaxes. Other pseudo
                      urban legends currently or recently in circulation 
include the notion
                      that the fifth digit of US Social Security numbers 
discloses the
                      bearer's race and allows those in the know to screen 
out visible
                      minorities among, for example, job applicants. 
                         Reported by Newsbytes.com, 
http://www.newsbytes.com .

___________________________________________
On Thu, 1 Jul 1999, Matthew Horning wrote:

> 
> 
> 
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Semon, Russell (R.C.) [SMTP:rsemon@visteon.com]
> >Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 1999 8:48 AM
> >To: 'kbroquet@futaba.com'
> >Subject: Government interference in E mail
> >
> > > >Subject: US Postal Service
> > > > >
> > > > >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 bill
> >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 bureaucratic
> >inefficiency. 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 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.
> >
> >
> >Russ Semon
> >Controls Engineer, Visteon, PCSD
> >Rawsonville Plant - Room G 32
> >Phone: (734) 48-48882
> >Pager: (734) 797-3052
> >Fax   : (734) 484-9049
> >rsemon@visteon.com
> >
> >
> >
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Dennis Krawczak
> S60 Quality Engineer
> (313)592-8269
> Page (313)714-1854
> 2-way channel 3
> Speed Code M05
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________________________
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