Congressman Tom Sawyer

"Bill 602-P" - 5¢ E-Mail Surcharge Hoax

Many people have contacted Congressman Sawyer to express opposition to "Bill 602 P" which would impose a 5¢ surcharge on messages delivered over the Internet, to be collected by the U.S. Postal Service.

However, there is no proposal in Congress or the U.S. Postal Service to impose such a fee. This misinformation has been widely circulated in e-mail messages both in the United States and in Canada. In fact, there is no "Bill 602 P" in either the U.S. Congress or in the Canadian Parliament.

In May 1999, a press release was issued by the U.S. Postal Service stating it "has no authority to surcharge e-mail messages sent over the Internet, nor would it support such legislation."

More information on this and other hoaxes can be found at the Internet site maintained by the Computer Incident Advisory Capability (CIAC) of the U.S. Department of Energy.

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