U.S. Postal Service going belly up.

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Ah, but that's different! Intellectual property generally refers to things such as written documents (novels, short stories, magazine/journal articles, musical scores), computer programs, digital/analog recordings, images whether rendered and stored on electronic media or print, and the like. The so-called "Poor-man's Copyright" is supposed to be a bulletproof way of establishing that the person mailing a document such as the above to himself is actually the owner of that intellectual property. The problem is that it's just too easy to fake a poor-man's copyright. I could, for example, rip my favorite Paul McCartney album of the last 10 years, rip the CD, set my computer's date back, save the audio files, and claim that I own the rights to it.

But it doesn't actually work that way. Paul McCartney probably has access to the original tracks and can prove that the master mix I have actually originated from his studio work. Sure, I could very carefully piece fake tracks together and get nearly indistinguishable results. But Macca's people could go through the process and reproduce exactly the result on the disputed recording. It would be obvious that my copyright is a fake.

Or, if I wanted to simplify, I could fake a demo, which is easy. Most songwriters produce simple guitar-and-vocals or piano-and-vocals demos rather than full-on studio productions so an actual studio/performing artist or producer can work his/her magic (good songs sell themselves and need no help from the writer). I could fake a demo, put it in an old unsealed envelope that I've already mailed to myself years ago, and claim copyright infringement. No need for fancy studio masters, etc. And all I had to do was mail empty unsealed envelopes to myself.

However, to PROVE my case, I would have to show that the artist who supposedly stole my work actually had access to me and the work in question. A CD demo and a lyric sheet in an envelope simply aren't enough. But the point is these kinds of things are so easy to fake. They simply just aren't enough.

Your GED is different. This isn't your personal intellectual property--it's your test score. If you leave it in a sealed, official envelope, the institution you're giving it to will know it's authentic. Letters of recommendation are the same way. I wrote a letter for a former student to include in her portfolio she submitted to art school. Part of the deal was the envelope had to be sealed, which is done for a number of reasons, but mainly so that the institution would be confident that the student herself didn't write it and that I genuinely intended what I wrote. These are supposed to be confidential, after all. So, for the sake of authenticity, things like your GED, standardized test scores for various degree programs or public certification, and letters of recommendation need to be in sealed envelopes. When I used to apply for teaching jobs, most districts would just accept photocopies of my Praxis scores. The state department of education, though, wanted unopened copies for licensure, which I was able to provide by calling Praxis and telling them where to send my test scores. And, of course, I have my own personal original copy. Some people want sealed college transcripts. But that's to ensure that the documents are authentic.

This is not the same as poor man's copyright. Having the post office send me something I mailed to myself might suggest the contents are genuine, but that doesn't guarantee the contents aren't genuinely fake. The thing is, the PO doesn't care what happens to documents after they leave the PO. Your GED scores probably include some information through which an institution can contact someone to verify that the scores are accurate. Leaving that in a sealed envelope from an issuing institution is a good indicator that it is genuine. Mailing something to yourself doesn't have the same weight.

Well, yes and no.

The reason for wanting a sealed copy from the source is that if YOU hand it over, it would be SO EASY (especially now with desktop publishing) to forge papers and records. If it's sealed and from the source, you either had to tamper with the mail (a federal crime) or have someone put the forged papers in at the source.

It's just a level of fraud prevention.

Just like insisting on USPS money orders. There was a time when they were as good as cash, but now even they are being forged and if you get a phony USPS money order, they can't do much for you. HOWEVER, if someone passes you a forged USPS money order, the Postmaster General will open a criminal investigation whereas any other vendor would only be investigated by the local police department.

I figured out a way to get First Class mail for very cheap or free, if mail ever gets privatized. I wanted to keep this idea to myself, but I guess you guys on this forum get it for free.

Sponsoring letters. We have stamps which cost us, what, 43c now? Prolly went up. My idea, companies wanting advertisement opportunities would simply go to the mail company, and stickers would be made for each company, and the company would determine what size the advertisement was, what was on it, and how much they'd be willing to pay. Then when you wanna mail a letter, you'd go to the post office (or I guess you could take the advertisement stickers home for the same process), and pick out advertisements you'd like to put on your letter, or pay for a normal nonadvertisment stamp. Letters would probably look a lot different, ie, entire envelope backs might be full page "one shot" postage ads, or they'd be covered with like 5-10 different sized stickers on back, but everything besides who gets billed would work the same way.

Anyway, USPS, as much as I like individual postal workers, I can't say I like the business itself, and yeah, I'll pretty much agree the govt. can't run businesses well at all.

That'd only work if people actually bought the products.

I don't give to any of those people who mailed me free return address labels. Don't feel any guilt over it either.

I agree that the best thing the USPS could do is ratchet up the price for "bulk mail" service, but it might be bad for them. The cost of "pre sorting" mail (which the sender must do) often outweighs any cost benefit of the bulk mail rate. I suppose the biggest mass mailers would still come out ahead. Make the bulk rate price too high and it won't make any sense to use it. This would push everything to first class mail, but then the issue of using the post office for marketing will be re-examined. So, they could lose everything by raising prices on this sector of their consumer base.

All of the parcel carriers could do it, but Federal Law forbids it.

ruveyn

I don't see how the linked articles have anything to do with that.

And US post offices certainly don't have any monopoly in that regard? I can name a couple of companies that do delivery...

I think that there's a more interesting economic phenomenon underlying this.

While we differ on scope, we can all agree that there are some functions that are either unique to government, or that are essential to a functioning society, but are not in anyone's direct commercial interest to provide: law enforcement, security tend to be uncontroversial examples.

Thirty years ago, so too would have been postal services. But economic innovation is rendering "snail mail" obsolete.

Canada Post survives because it has diversified into other areas of information transfer, standing at the leading edge of the replacement of traditional postal services with electronic invoice delivery and payment systems, for example.

You are wrong.

Look and learn. These firms are forbidden to delivery first class mail except in very restricted circumstances.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_Express_Statutes

ruveyn