[MrBoj]

I don't know how many of you are aware of this, but the US gov. is really desperate, desperate and hungry, hungry for your money, just like all the corporations of the world. It seems that there are attempts to pass a bill that will make emails cost 5 cents each, similar to a phone bill. I recently received an email from a friend of mine which follows below:
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 inefficiency. 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. 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 E-mail to EVERYONE on your list, and tell all your
friends and relatives to 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!

Is this ridiculous, or what!?free things are so hard to come by these days, and the rapid advance in technology only makes things worse; what a paradox.