posted on September 4, 2000 06:51:24 AM new
Texas has a bill up before the legistlature that would impose a 5 cent tax on every email. If you are from Texas, write to your congressman now! We are already being taxed on our internet service!
If you're not in Texas, be aware that when one state does this, the others will soon follow!
posted on September 4, 2000 06:55:13 AM new
We've been warned for a long time that this was coming, or at least that the powers that be would try it. Given the number of the voters who use email, I can't believe that any legislator in his right mind would consider voting for such a bill, unless he wasn't planning on running for re-election. At one point, I was told that a bill had been presented in US Congress that would impose a surcharge on Internet usage, so much per minute. Anyone know what ever happened with that?
posted on September 4, 2000 07:05:40 AM new
I smell a HOAX!
bearmom -
Have you actually SEEN the text of the bill on the OFFICIAL Texas state website, with a real bill number and sponsor names that match the known Texian state legislators? Or did you get an email warning you about this tax?
The "modem/email/internet tax" hoax periodically mutates and runs through the gullible on the net like chickenpox through a kindergarten.
posted on September 4, 2000 07:07:57 AM new
Well, I doubt any of this email tax thing
has any truth to it. However, sending out
spam out to be taxed $100 and it should all go to the person who recieved it.
posted on September 4, 2000 07:32:39 AM new
I got the email from a friend, so quite possibly it is a hoax. i certainly hope so-that's just another 5 cents everyone would have to add to their handling charge!
posted on September 4, 2000 07:36:26 AM new
This is too funny. People fall for it every time. This is and the Save the Turtle Thread and ohh don't forget the 'Beware of Old Lady at Yard Sale' threads must rank as one of the most hilarious threads ever.
And who in their right mind can forget last year's 'Doll Battle'...you guys just rock. Thanks all this has certainly helped my knowledge of online auctions
posted on September 4, 2000 08:25:36 AM new
Comic-
I would be laughing at this, but it's no longer funny. This hoax about taxing email in Texas or anywhere else has been recycled on the Internet so many times on the past 2 years that it's growing a beard, and needs a shave. I would also ask the moderator to look into this, and shut this thread down with a statement that it is in fact a hoax, before more people than the thousands who have bought into it in the past 2 years fall for it too... Isn't the Internet wonderful? Amazing what an automated mailing list, a computer, a CC box, and a mouse can do....
My rule of thumb: ANYTHING that comes into my email inbox that says "Pass this along to everyone you know" is most likely bunk. And it seems that I've got a few friends that believe all this stuff, and keep sending it...
The snopes site (above) has a nifty search enging that allows you to search keywords for this sort of claptrap; most likely any of the UL's that are circulating are indexed there.
posted on September 4, 2000 09:04:07 AM new
***********************************************
WARNING, CAUTION, DANGER, AND BEWARE!
Gullibility Virus Spreading over the Internet!
***********************************************
WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Institute for the Investigation of Irregular Internet Phenomena announced today that many Internet users are becoming infected by a new virus that causes them to believe without question every groundless story, legend, and dire warning that shows up in their inbox or on their browser. The Gullibility Virus, as it is called, apparently makes people believe and forward copies of silly hoaxes relating to cookie recipes, email viruses, taxes on modems, and get-rich-quick schemes.
"These are not just readers of tabloids or people who buy lottery tickets based on fortune cookie numbers," a spokesman said. "Most are otherwise normal people, who would laugh at the same stories if told to them by a stranger on a street corner." However, once these same people become infected with the Gullibility Virus, they believe anything they read on the Internet.
"My immunity to tall tales and bizarre claims is all gone," reported one weeping victim. "I believe every warning message and sick child story my friends forward to me, even though most of the messages are anonymous."
Another victim, now in remission, added, "When I first heard about Good Times, I just accepted it without question. After all, there were dozens of other recipients on the mail header, so I thought the virus must be true." It was a long time, the victim said, before she could stand up at a Hoaxees Anonymous meeting and state, "My name is Jane, and I've been hoaxed." Now, however, she is spreading the word. "Challenge and check whatever you read," she says.
Internet users are urged to examine themselves for symptoms of the virus, which include the following:
The willingness to believe improbable stories without thinking. The urge to forward multiple copies of such stories to others. A lack of desire to take three minutes to check to see if a story is true.
T. C. is an example of someone recently infected. He told one reporter, "I read on the Net that the major ingredient in almost all shampoos makes your hair fall out, so I've stopped using shampoo." When told about the Gullibility Virus, T. C. said he would stop reading email, so that he would not become infected.
Anyone with symptoms like these is urged to seek help immediately. Experts recommend that at the first feelings of gullibility, Internet users rush to their favorite search engine and look up the item tempting them to thoughtless credence. Most hoaxes, legends, and tall tales have been widely discussed and exposed by the Internet community.
Courses in critical thinking are also widely available, and there is online help from many sources, including
Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability at
http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html
Symantec Anti Virus Research Center at
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/index.html
McAfee Associates Virus Hoax List at
http://www.mcafee.com/support/hoax.html
Dr. Solomons Hoax Page at
http://www.drsolomons.com/vircen/hoax.html
The Urban Legends Web Site at
http://www.urbanlegends.com
Urban Legends Reference Pages at
http://www.snopes.com
Datafellows Hoax Warnings at
http://www.Europe.Datafellows.com/news/hoax.htm
Those people who are still symptom free can help inoculate themselves against the Gullibility Virus by reading some good material on evaluating sources, such as
Evaluating Internet Research Sources at
http://www.sccu.edu/faculty/R_Harris/evalu8it.htm
Evaluation of Information Sources at
http://www.vuw.ac.nz/~agsmith/evaln/evaln.htm
Bibliography on Evaluating Internet Resources at
http://refserver.lib.vt.edu/libinst/critTHINK.HTM
Lastly, as a public service, Internet users can help stamp out the Gullibility Virus by sending copies of this message to anyone who forwards them a hoax.
***********************************************
This message is so important, we're sending it anonymously! Forward it to all your friends right away! Don't think about it! This is not a chain letter! This story is true! Don't check it out! This story is so timely, there is no date on it! This story is so important, we're using lots of exclamation points! Lots!! For every message you forward to some unsuspecting person, the Home for the Hopelessly Gullible will donate ten cents to itself. (If you wonder how the Home will know you are forwarding these messages all over creation, you're obviously thinking too much.)
***********************************************
ACT NOW! DON'T DELAY! LIMITED TIME ONLY! NOT SOLD IN ANY STORE!
posted on September 4, 2000 10:39:28 AM new
gboy, I believe you have taken rudeness and sarcasm to a new high with this post. I think it's time for me to give up AW, if being vicious to others is required in order to post.
When I first started lurking at Aw, it seemed that everyone got their kicks from seeing how rude and hateful they could be to each other. Then it got better for a while, but now everyone is back at it again.
I have stated before that I am somewhat naive, because I tend to believe people are honest. I passed this message along in an attempt to be helpful and have been ridiculed for it.
Time to check it in at AW and let you make fun of and hurt someone else. Goodbye to everyone, hope your sales do great in the future.
posted on September 4, 2000 11:00:17 AM new
bearmom -
Before you stomp off in a snit ... that post was NOT written by gboy, and was not aimed at you in particular. It and a few others are Internet classics, parodies of the various spams and chain letters that flood the net.
posted on September 4, 2000 11:07:21 AM new
Personally, I thought that Gboy's post was super!....We have all, at one time or another fallen for some story that landed in our inbox (I know I have! - I even fretted about the 5 cent email charge, first, second or third time I saw it)...I even had a party guest last week tell me all about the new 5 cent charge, and how it really WAS gonna become a reality....Must be makin' the rounds agin', cause my local paper even ran an article on the hoax.....Bearmom you're not the first & won't be the last to fall for it....And sadly enough all of these hoaxes, do make believing that everyone is honest just alittle harder to swallow....
I especially like the list of sites to check out these known hoaxes!
posted on September 4, 2000 11:14:17 AM new
Actually, I hadn't seen the message posted bu Gboy before, but I thought it was so good that I want to copy it and send it to everybody who fills my mailbox with these scams and hoaxes.
My dad, for example, is one of the smartest people I know, and not at all naive about RL issues and problems. However, he is constantly sending me these hoax emails and getting all exercised about them. He worries himself into a lather each time he gets one. I've recommended many of the websites Gboy includes, but this is a handy one-stop place to get 'em all.
Bearmom, PLEASE do not take this personally! Many, many very bright and sophisticated people don't know how to tell the difference between a real virus/tax/donation scheme and a fake one. How do you think the rest of us figured it out? Somebody told US about these websites (or others), and we educated ourselves. We're just trying to pass on what we've learned so that you can learn it too.
If I'd been terminally offended the first time I got a similar note from someone, I'd never have bothered to follow it up and educate myself. I hope you don't do the same thing.
posted on September 4, 2000 11:18:57 AM new
Almost 20 years ago it was the "Modem tax" I got caught by that one. You'd have thought I would have been ready for the email tax. But that one caught me the first time too.
I don't know a single person that hasn't been caught by either one of those or the usual "Virus Warning!"
Snipe hunting has gone high tech....
---
Insert funny tagline here....
posted on September 4, 2000 11:26:43 AM new
Dmercer -
The absolute BEST Internet Hoax was the "February 29th Internet Cleaning Day" hoax that went around a couple of leap years ago (1996?).
The premise was that the Internet would do a good housecleaning on that day by deleting all kinds of unwanted files, etc. And it asked people to please stay OFF the net so their traffic would not slow down the cleaning and warned that any computers connected to the net would be cleaned whether they liked it or not, and warned them to disconnect.
posted on September 4, 2000 11:57:34 AM new
DMercer -
I'm sceptical enough, and technical enough, not to get caught by the typical hoaxes.
But I got caught with a hoax spam ... I swore on an anti-spam newsgroup that I would NEVER take advantage of a spamvertised offer, not buy from a company that used spam to promote their website.
The next week, I was "spammed" by an offer to get FREE Godiva chocolates in exchange for taking a survey at godiva.com. It was beautifull written, well-forged, and I had the flaming complaint all ready to go when the header showed it as coming from a mail server at a friend's business site. He had constructed the whole thing because he knew I love chocolate.
posted on September 4, 2000 12:01:32 PM new
Bearmom, I'm sorry your feelings have been hurt. When you're feeling a little better you might try turning it around and thinking about how some of us feel who see hoaxes like that keep being passed on by gullible people who don't even check to see if it's true or not before sending it to everyone they know. It is really hard, sometimes, to keep from getting ANGRY when someone sends it yet again! The humorous piece posted by gboy is an old one (I myself found it on the Internet over a year ago). As humor often does, reading it helps relieve some of our frustration/aggravation at receiving the same or another stupid hoax message YET AGAIN. But I'm sure it wasn't aimed at you personally. Please come back!
I have one simple rule: If a messages asks or suggests in any manner that it should be passed on... I DON'T. Not even the cute, harmless ones.
Violetta
(Not known by this nickname anywhere but here.)
posted on September 4, 2000 12:58:37 PM new
This is a HOAX .
big write up in many news papers about these for state and fedral government there is no such tax or bills pend for any such tax.
even the hoaxes that give bill number there is no such bill # on there dockets and they have been receiveing million of emails and are asking please stop
posted on September 4, 2000 07:32:22 PM new
I don't ususally believe these either...but G.W. Bush is the govenor of Texas...so maybe I could believe this one!
posted on September 4, 2000 07:57:06 PM new
People DO seem to be getting better about recognizing hoaxes--just a few years ago I was getting emails from coworkers who actually fell for the one about someone who got drugged and whose kidneys were removed--and he was left in an ice-filled bathtub. Yeah. Right. Then a coworker sent one around about a class-action suit that would force Gerber to pay $500 or something toward tuition to any kid who had eaten Gerber baby food during a certain number of years. Hmmm. Let's see, that would end up in the hundreds of millions of dollars or something (billions?) and yet--what do you know!--the story wasn't in the New York Times or any other newspaper.
Let's not even go into the truely lame ones like the Nieman Marcus cookie recipe.
I definitely see LOTS fewer of these silly things lately, I think due to more sophistication among users, but every few months get a "scare" email from someone about something or other.
I figure the folks at the New York Times, Washington Post, network news, etc. are also plugged into email, and IF any of this stuff is true, we'll see it soon enough in a reputable newspaper or newcast. AND, there's always the Urban Legends site that has been posted here.
Bottom line: If you receive some "alarmist" email, take the time to check it out before forwarding it mindlessly on to others.
posted on September 4, 2000 08:02:52 PM new
Meant to add, bearmom, don't feel bad about falling for one of them--shoot--there's no one out there who hasn't received an email that just seemed SO plausible. Some of them are very clever. Just--watch out for the alarmist ones. It took me awhile to figure out most of them were totally bogus.
posted on September 5, 2000 04:55:28 AM new
My three sisters are all intelligent and college-educated. I get email hoaxes forwarded from them all the time... even though I constantly send them links to the Internet hoax sites!
My baby sister actually went shopping around for a special deodorant when she got the email that anti-perspirant caused lymph node cancer.
posted on September 5, 2000 05:07:07 AM new
Yes, I think its a shame for Texans to have to pay the 5 cent email tax. This is the second expense they've been hit with recently. Earlier this month the Texas legislature passed a bill to make car owners pay for modifications to have the headlight dimmer switch moved from the steering column to the floorboard. After a rash of car accidents where the driver was found dead with their foot through the steering wheel in an obvious attempt to dim the lights they felt a measure was needed.
