Comment from a lawyer. It would seem to me that the interest that the
USPS would want to protect is that of getting a return on the investment
of providing free packaging materials. If you took their boxes and sent
them via UPS or FedEx, etc., there would be a loss of revenues to the
USPS. The use of USPS materials could then be viewed by the Feds as a
theft - either of property or services - and a theft is, of course, a
criminal act. The theft would be more than a common law offense as
government property is involved, and I believe (I have not taken the
time to look it up) there is a specific federal law dealing with theft
from the U.S. Government.

I do not think that "misuse" generally could be a crime. First, it
would probably be constitutionally void for vagueness. Second, there
would be the problem of why a recipient might be able to use a priority
box to store things in, but a would-be sender cannot. Third, the
privacy interest of the person in possession of free government
materials in their own home or place of business would be weighed
against the interest of the government in generating revenues, and the
latter would be likely to be found wanting, except where the packaging
is discovered to be used to send materials with private carriers, as
that directly affects the revenue stream.


Francis A. Miniter


Scot Kamins wrote:

In article ,
"michael adams" wrote (quoting something from
some website):



I understand that Express Mail®, Priority Mail®, Global Express
Guaranteed®, Global Express Mail® and Global Priority Mail® packaging
is the property of the United States Postal Service and is provided
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^
solely for sending Express Mail®, Priority Mail®, Global Express
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Guaranteed®, Global Express Mail® and Global Priority Mail®.
Misuse may be a violation of federal law.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^




This, of course, does not answer the question. The statement "Misuse may
be a violation of federal law" says nothing.

Let me repeat: "Will someone who actually knows what s/he is talking
about from a LEGAL point of view please enlighten us on the issue?"

Scot Kamins
--
Collecting the Modern Library 1917-1970
Modern Library Collecting Website at:
http://www.dogeared.com