Re: possible internet phone charges...

["Paul J. Bodin" pjbodin@xxxxxxxx]

On Tue, 04 May 1999 18:31:59 -0400, Catlyn wrote:

> ...  That means, every time we make a long distance e-mail 
> we will receive a long distance charge.

This is the deceptive sentence.  The only kernel of truth in this
recurrent prediction of doom for internet access is that the government
*is* considering charging access fees to ISPs for their dependence on
telephone switching networks.  You already pay similar access fees for
simply having a long distance carrier that is different from your local
telco.  The fee is a very small, monthly charge on your bill: you may
not even have noticed it.  It is charged whether you make any long
distance calls or not.  It is *not* added to every long distance call.

If this measure is adopted then your ISP would need to pay a similar
small access fee.  It would undoubtedly get passed on to you in the
form of a *small* increase in your monthly bill.  It would *not*
generate a charge every time you sent e-mail, long distance or
otherwise! (By the way, what is a long distance e-mail?)

                                   ------
 Paul J. Bodin        http://www.sirius.com/~pjbodin