Re:

[scheier <scheier@xxxxxxxxx>]

Ritchie--Did you actually check this out before mass emailing it?   Did
you think to call the law firm?   I'd be upset at this as you if it were
true.  The fact is, there is no Richard Stepp at any law firm in Vienna,
in fact, there is no Concorde St in Vienna.   Let's keep our fire power
ready for when something like this really happens.   Save your
strength.   You might need it later.

Mark Scheier

ritchie wrote:

> For whatever it is worth
>
> Start of Forwarded message via Prodigy Mail >>
>
> From:    (BCXT38A) MARTIN HEIMS
> Subject:         From the Judge
> Date:    09/26
> Time:    10:49 PM
>
> Please read the following carefully if you intend to stay on-line
> 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 noninterference. 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 (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 whose time has come" (March 6th 1999
> Editorial) Don't sit by and watch your freedom 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
>
> URGENT!!!! Pass this along to all your email buddies -
>
> <Internet Distribution List>
> TO: sdheims@xxxxxxxxx
>
> <Distribution List>
>         (BCXT38C), name unlisted
>         cc:(BCXT38A), MARTIN HEIMS
>
> << End of Forwarded message >>