NWA-PCUG 09/2000 NewsLetter Article 18861 N. Hwy 112, Springdale, AR 72762-9303 Bogus E-mail Tax Rumor Makes the Rounds - Again! by Ken Fermoyle A flurry of messages about a new e-mail tax flooded my Inbox recently, and maybe yours, too. They claim that Bill 602P would require Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to collect a 5-cent charge for every e-mail message. Like similar "information:" that cropped up periodically during the past few years, this one is tatally bogus! If you receive such a message with a "Please forward to everyone you know" request, trash it. Tipoff that the report was phoney jumped out at me when I saw the title of the purported bill. Neither the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives use a "P" designation in any of their bills. Also. I heard earlier about a bill of the same nature rumored to be pending in the Canadian Parliament. That also was false. The original message indicated that the e-mail fee would be charged to assist the United States Postal Service (USPS) or the Canadian Post Office with recovery of any losses they may have experienced due to the proliferation of e-mail. The USPS has posted an emphatic denial to the report at: www.usps.gov/news/press/99/99045new.htm My personal opinion is that these false reports are circulated by the same people who worry about black helicopters in the night and invasions of privacy (which is happening, but banks, insurance companies and other large corporations have far more information about us than any governmental organization). - A Ken's Korner NewsByte.