I will begin this diary with a short discussion I started in a thread that was part of a much larger discussion, which I will add a link to. I will also include a link to the initial diary that these discussions came out of. First, the diary was titled Elizabeth Warren: Let Post Offices Replace Payday Lenders.
My suggestion to a much longer comment thread on the topic of having the USPS offer ISP (internet service provider) service to Americans, was to have the USPS offer a secure email service that had the force of the American postal laws behind it regarding secrecy, mail fraud, and all of the other protections that the mail service has that other message delivery services do not have. A few people agreed with me that there was some merit to the idea, and I decided to see if we can get a Daily Kos discussion to brainstorm the question.
The thread is below:
Post a Comment | 287 comments | Permalink
I've felt for a long time that the USPS should run (17+ / 0-)
its own secure email service that offers the same level of protection to privacy and against mail fraud as a service that people pay for. If a spammer wants to put 10 million commercial messages, maybe they have to pay a penny a mail box for the privilege. That would put $100k in the postal bank account, and, with various classes of email, say 2 cents for First Class Email, 1.5 cents for Second Class, and 1 cent for bulk, the American public would strongly support a system with these features. Every American would have the ability to have their own, portable forever, USPS Email Address that can be used anywhere, with the full support of the USPS and its attendant legal protections.
That would make the telecoms squawk, but so what? The Postal Service is the only message delivery service mentioned in the US Constitution, and it should adapt to the technologies of the day, whatever day that happens to be.
Republicans are like alligators. All mouth and no ears.
by Ohiodem1 on Tue Feb 04, 2014 at 01:14:56 PM EST
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
I'd jump at the chance - (5+ / 0-)
middle finger extended to the NSA!
by Nannyberry on Tue Feb 04, 2014 at 02:11:09 PM EST
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
Yeah! (8+ / 0-)
Oh, man, do I LOVE the idea of making junk e-mailers pay to have
their garbage delivered to me! If nothing else, let's make THAT happen!
OF COURSE the New Right is wrong - but that doesn't make WRONG the new
RIGHT!
by mstaggerlee on Tue Feb 04, 2014 at 02:18:58 PM EST
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
How about a Do Not Spam List with mail fraud (0+ / 0-)
penalties applied? I like that.
Republicans are like alligators. All mouth and no ears.
by Ohiodem1 on Wed Feb 05, 2014 at 09:51:51 AM EST
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
And the library of Congress (9+ / 0-)
should run a not-for-profit search engine that operates on the
principle of intellectual freedom.
After all, the internet only has content because users put there
in the first place. Its our information, not google's.
"YOPP!" --Horton Hears a Who
by Reepicheep on Tue Feb 04, 2014 at 03:46:32 PM EST
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
Severe Laws Regarding Mail Fraud (9+ / 0-)
Holy crap, mail fraud has been a law you don't want to be
charged with for many years. Why that doesn't extend to email
is a mystery to me, but if the USPS were to operate an email
service, wow, massive teeth in mail fraud.
A perpetual personal email address? Anyone else thinking it
might become a pretty nice electronic voting tool? With a
massive double penalty of both voter fraud and mail fraud
sitting on top of it?
Tampering with the mail? Another charge I wouldn't want to
have to defend myself from.
The establishment of post offices is part of the constitution so I
don't know where these ass-hat absolutists come off thinking
they can privatize it.
by JohnnySacks on Tue Feb 04, 2014 at 07:35:44 PM EST
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
Email scams coming through a USPS email system (4+ / 0-)
could get the full federal law mail fraud statutes coming
down on the scammers. What's not to like about that?
We should get someone in Congress to propose this
system. How about Senators Warren, Sherrod Brown, and
Nancy Pelosi on the House side?
Republicans are like alligators. All mouth and no ears.
by Ohiodem1 on Tue Feb 04, 2014 at 09:19:38 PM EST
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
And viruses. Send a virus, go to federal prison.
(0+ / 0-)
There's a lot to like in such a system.
Republicans are like alligators. All mouth and no
ears.
by Ohiodem1 on Wed Feb 05, 2014 at 05:32:26 PM EST
Note: Redacted redundant elements like signature lines and DK formatting for brevity. the indented formatting did not come over at all when I copied it, and I did the best I could to see the thread. The actual thread is here, and the much longer parent thread is here.
Below the separator I will share why I think a United States Postal Service email system would be a good idea, and I invite others who visit to put their two cents in as well.
Read More