Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Post Office Hates Competition

The Post Office is very upset that people are using mailboxes to deliver messages.

Savvy Citizen: U.S. Postal Service controls the outside of your mailbox, too

If you have a mailbox on your property, you’ve seen them — either inside the mailbox or attached to the side or in your newspaper box next to the mailbox.

They are fliers advertising something or promoting a particular candidate.

It’s a convenient way for those advertisers and politicians to get you their materials.

It’s also illegal.

The truth is that the U.S. Postal Service discourages people from using their mailboxes as a drop-off point, said spokesman Victor Dubina. “Technically, we own the inside of a mailbox,” he said.
Really? Who paid for the mailbox? A citizen who paid for his own mailbox owns it, no matter what the 'law' says.

Why so picky?

There are two things to consider: First, the postal service is mainly concerned about things that could be mailed. “If it’s something that’s mailable, postage should be paid for it” in order for it to be placed in the mailbox, Dubina said.

...

The postal service has two concerns about your mailbox becoming a train station: Officials don’t want solicitors putting fliers in every mailbox instead of mailing them. And they don’t want people sticking their hands in your mailbox without your permission. “By having control of the inside of the mailbox, we can better protect the sanctity of the mail,” Dubina said.
This is the real issue. The Post Office is a monopoly that hates competition. While 'postage should be paid' for anything that the Post Office delivers, by what right do they demand that postage be paid for mail that they did not collect, transport, sort, or deliver?

It is high time that the postal monopoly be abolished and free competition in mail delivery be established.

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