Because apparently the U.S. Snail wasn't slow enough already.

[buggery]

Important news for anyone who sends comics, books, videotapes, DVDs, CD-ROMs, or other disks through the US Mail regularly, or is planning to in the near future:

"Media Mail," formerly called bound-printed-matter Book Rate [my bad, bpm = junk mail], among other designations, has long been a boon to fandom, allowing dubbed videos, fanzines, comics, and other fannish goodies to be shipped within the United States at a cost considerably below that of standard First Class or Parcel Post shipping.

I discovered this morning, when I went down to send off a set of Static Shock tapes (want your own? just ask!), that ALL Media Mail packages must now be presented UNSEALED at the Post Office, so that the contents may be inspected by postal workers. You still need to provide your own package-grade tape -- this means bring some down with you, or you'll pay through the nose for the stuff they sell at the office.

Also consider calling your representatives in Congress to protest this violation of the privacy and sanctity of the mail. No other grades of mail are being subjected to this new policy. I seem to remember something in the Constitution about "freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures," and a policy of searching only information-intensive packages is disturbing, to say the least, in these "Patriot Act" times.

Edited to add: After contacting the USPS customer service hotline, I discovered that this is not in fact being implemented as a blanket measure in all U.S. post offices, though postmasters have discretion to do so. From the comments to this post, however, I see that mine is not the only local post office going with the most intrusive policy regarding Media Mail packages.

It makes sense, obviously, for the USPS to have discretion to search any and all packages -- nobody, I think, wants to make it easier for terrorists to send bombs, biological agents, etc. through the mail. I can also understand postal workers needing to search packages presented for Media Mail IF they have reason to suspect the package contains something other than media (clothes, food, kitchen sinks). A blanket-search policy still seems unnecessarily intrusive and obstructive, though. Bringing one package unsealed to the post office isn't too big a deal, but if I was, say, selling comics via eBay, and needed to send out several packages at once? I'm disabled. I don't know how I'd manage more than two packages if they were larger than 9x12" envelopes.

There are several postmasters in my family, as it happens, and I'm looking into the most politic way to get the postmasters who have implemented blanket searches of Media Mail to switch to a more reasonable policy. More info will be posted as it becomes available.

Comments

[ratcreature]

But isn't this mainly a pricing thing, so that they can be sure you don't cheat to get the cheaper postage? I mean, afaik, here the condition that you get the cheaper shipping for books and the like is (and always has been) that you bring it to the post office open (or easily opened, i.e. not taped shut, but merely closed with one of those easily removed pins, or a simple flap), or, if there are more than a hundred that are equal you can send them closed if you give one open sample. I don't think it counts as "searching" if a shipping company looks at the goods it is shipping to determine the price the customer has to pay. And I'm not sure that to goods apply the same mail rules like to letters in any case.

[buggery.livejournal.com]

It probably is mainly intended to ensure that people aren't lying about what's in their packages just to get the lowest rate, yes. That doesn't make searching (and yes, I consider opening up a package and looking through its contents a "search") every Media Mail package reasonable.

Also, in an environment in which Americans' financial records and library borrowing habits (!) can be reviewed by government officials without either a warrant or the need for notice even after the fact, and given that the sender must provide their name when sending a package... yeah, the implications of this policy, even on a limited basis (some but not all post offices) are disturbing to say the least. Librarians aren't even allowed to disclose whether Homeland Security has asked to review any of the records in their libraries; how much do you want to bet that postal employees are expected to report it if they open up someone's package and find, say, passages from the Koran? (It's an Islamic belief that the Koran should only be read in its original Arabic for religious purposes, though of course translations are made into many languages for other reasons.)

[sidewinder.livejournal.com]

I was just at the Post Office this morning and asked them about this; here in Philly they haven't started this practice yet, but the woman at the counter said she wouldn't be surprised if they would and that other branches may have already started, if there has been suspected abuse of the use of Media Mail packaging.

I'm of two minds on the matter--it's true I don't like the idea of postal employees checking out any slash zines I'm shipping, but OTOH the woman at the counter who I've known for a long while says it's really an issue of people abusing Media shipping to send other items like clothing at the cheaper rate, and lots of times she handles packages to be sent Media that really don't feel like papers, videos, etc.

Whenever I send packages overseas, I already know I have to be prepared for them to be searched and evaluated at customs to be sure they were valuated "properly"--this just seems like a similar check to me. And if I'm really really worried about the contents of something I'm shipping, then well I guess I'll just start making people pay me the Priority Mail rate for it and be done with it.

[buggery.livejournal.com]

Like I said, I just don't see why they don't check the packages that seem suspicious -- they've always had discretion to do that -- but leave the rest alone.

This really is not the right time to be routinely searching all packages that contain information (as opposed to other items). If there ever was a right time for that...

[typhoid-mary.livejournal.com]

I didn't know you didn't have to before -- every time I've shipped things book rate, I always bring tape in case they want to open it and check. I mean, it sounds like you had a really bad day, and how hateful to have to buy their tape and all, but it's not like they want to watch the videos or read the DVDs, is it? Because that would be a whole different issue, and one I /would/ get angry about.
-Mari

[buggery.livejournal.com]

I've never had to before, or heard of anybody else having to either. I wound up sending the package First Class rather than buying the overpriced tape. It's not so much that that was a big deal, as that the implications are a big deal.

I mean, no, I don't imagine postal workers would actually want to put a DVD or video into a player, possibly even if it were labelled "al-Qaeda Washington DC attack plans" -- but, see, that's kind of my point. People label things. Green Party literature would be obvious as such, and Greens who are pacifists have been lumped in with "terrorists" and, in some cases at least, been denied permission to board international flights. Western journalists getting too snoopy in Iraq have been subjected to abuses similar to Iraqi prisoners'. America is becoming a wasteland of slippery slopes.

[buggery.livejournal.com]

Hmm. That's very interesting, that they would have the policy posted yet not enforce it. Makes me wonder even more just what exactly is going on.

If I'd known about the policy ahead of time, I would've brought my package down open, I guess. It didn't work out that way.

But yeah, any way you look at it, it sucks. If it isn't in fact a new Postal-Service-wide policy change to search all Media Mail packages, then it will be that much more difficult to change thr practice; Congress can do things on the federal level, but I'm not sure any elected has the authority to tell individual postmasters what to do. Still, bringing the issue to the attention of your Representatives and Senators can only be a good thing. (Well, unless they're wacky right-wingers and decide the USPS isn't being fascist enough...)