There's an electronic hoax that has circulated about the government charging an email tax so that people would have to pay a fee for each email message they send. I think in Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign she was asked about it and said she would fight the tax. Then of course her staff learned there is no such bill to impose a tax. That's still true, as far as I know.
But would an email fee be such a bad thing? Probably. Still, when I think about how much stuff everyone copies me on as chair. And sometimes, people will be in the middle of a discussion. Then someone copies me on it. So I read the message and think, "what the heck are they talking about?" That forces me to decide if I do somehow need to respond to this issue so I have to backtrack, but often I never did get the first few emails. Plus no one ever bothers to say, "let me catch everyone up on the situation."
If people had to pay a small fee, even 10 cents, for each message, at least they would think twice about sending unnecessary emails. And maybe that would make spamming non-cost effective, though who knows if spammers could be forced to pay the fee. Though it might be possible for the internet service provider to charge the fee.
Still, in the long run, I suppose it would be the average consumer who would have to pay the fee and it would be another $40 or $50 per month we'd have to shell out. So I guess I should just admit it's not the best idea.
But would an email fee be such a bad thing? Probably. Still, when I think about how much stuff everyone copies me on as chair. And sometimes, people will be in the middle of a discussion. Then someone copies me on it. So I read the message and think, "what the heck are they talking about?" That forces me to decide if I do somehow need to respond to this issue so I have to backtrack, but often I never did get the first few emails. Plus no one ever bothers to say, "let me catch everyone up on the situation."
If people had to pay a small fee, even 10 cents, for each message, at least they would think twice about sending unnecessary emails. And maybe that would make spamming non-cost effective, though who knows if spammers could be forced to pay the fee. Though it might be possible for the internet service provider to charge the fee.
Still, in the long run, I suppose it would be the average consumer who would have to pay the fee and it would be another $40 or $50 per month we'd have to shell out. So I guess I should just admit it's not the best idea.
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