This hoax began in 1998 in Canada.  Some prankster modified it to be
US-based (though he/she forgot to change the bill number to a US-format
bill number).  It is probably the most widely circulated Internet hoax of
all time, though one may also view it as simply a rehash of the original
"Modem Tax" hoax.

> 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 bilk 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 bureacratic
> 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 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.
>
> It's the action, not the fruit of the action that's
> important. You have to do the right thing...You may
> never know what results come from your action.  But if
> you do nothing, there will be no result.