Shirley G. Aube’s letter of March 11 alludes to a government tax on e-mail. There is no such proposed tax. There is, however, a proposed tax on Internet access, which is erroneously being touted by its opponents as an e-mail tax.

On the other hand, there have been articles lately about what some software companies and Internet mega-providers are proffering as the “solution” to spam: a fee-based e-mail system. The recipients of these payments will be the software companies and mega-ISPs, not the government.

Companies such as Microsoft, AOL, IBM, WorldCom and others are members of the Internet Alliance, a subsidiary of the Direct Marketing Association. Their restrictive definition of “spam” is fraudulent e-mailings. They actually encourage unsolicited commercial e-mailings.

The association spent a great deal of effort convincing Congress to keep most spam restrictions out of the so-called “Can-Spam Act of 2003.” So, sometime soon, companies such as Microsoft will benefit from selling software to everyone to combat spam, will receive money for everyone’s e-mailings, will receive court awards for suing fraudulent spammers and will continue to make themselvesout as spam-fighting heroes.

In the meantime, they’ll be sticking their hands into all of our pockets, and we’ll all be paying morefor e-mail and Internet access.

Robert Godfrey

Eastport