X-Message-Number: 17038
Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2001 18:25:37 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Keith F. Lynch" <>

Subject: Stop chain letters!! (was Re: Stop the gov't from taxing e-mail 
users!!)

In Cryomsg #17026 "john grigg" <> quotes Natasha
Vita-More as spreading a chain letter touting the infamous "e-mail
tax" urban legend, complete with the keywords "Richard Stepp" and
"Bill 602P".

A five minute Google search would have shown that this urban legend
first appeared on the net on April 14th, 1999 (at which time Mr. Stepp
and bill 602P were both purportedly CANADIAN), and was decisively
debunked on April 15th, 1999.  Any other good search engine would show
the same.  As would simply asking someone who is knowledgeable about
the Internet or email.

It was attributed to an editorial in the March 6, 1999 edition of the
Toronto Star.  This editorial did not exist.  Nor does an attorney by
that name, or the law firm he supposedly works for, anywhere in Canada.

Neither does any such attorney practice in or near Washington DC, as I
have personally confirmed.

All of this only took about ten minutes of research total.  I didn't
even have to get out of my easy chair.

This urband legend has continued to circulate ever since.  For a
while, the imaginary Mr. Stepp was even residing in my home town,
Vienna Virginia, on the imaginary Concord Street.  I have little doubt
that it will still be circulating in another decade, unless email has
been abandoned as useless by them.

The fact that Natasha Vita-More would fail to do such research, and
the fact that she would deliberately spread a chain letter for any
reason, especially one this bogus, causes her to drop drastically in
my estimation, along with any organization she's on the board of.

Anyone with the slightest experience with email knows that chain
letters are a far greater threat to the usefulness of email than any
hypothetical nickel-per-email charge.  And would also know that that
such a charge is not technically feasible in any case.

And someone without such knowledge of email should know better than
to spread rumors about something that many others are much more
knowledgeable about.

She should also know that contacting politicians about bogus issues
is a good way to get them to permanently ignore us, like the boy who
cried wolf.

Please DON'T forward THIS message to anyone (except those who email
you another copy of this urban legend).  Chain letters are a BAD idea,
even if the intention is to combat other chain letters, or some other
good cause (e.g. dying boy wants cards, terrible new virus on the
loose, etc.).  Exponential growth can easily consume and trash all
available resources in a remarkably short amount of time.

Chain letters without time limits on them are especially pernicious.
It should be obvious that any issue-oriented email has to have a time
limit, e.g. Congress will vote on this bill on June 30th 1999, or
whenever.

If each person who receives a chain letter were to wait ten minutes,
then send just two copies of it to others, in just SIX HOURS there
would be more copies of that chain letter than there are people in
the world!

The only reason this hasn't already happened is that more than 99%
of all email users have better sense than Ms. Vita-More, and don't
forward chain letters.

Sorry if I'm being blunt, but after receiving TENS OF THOUSANDS of
email chain letters in the past 16 years, my temper is worn a little
thin.
-- 
Keith F. Lynch -  - http://keithlynch.net/
I always welcome replies to my e-mail, postings, and web pages, but
unsolicited bulk e-mail sent to thousands of randomly collected
addresses is not acceptable, and I do complain to the spammer's ISP.

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