Editing Mail (section)

== Modern mail ==

Modern mail is organized by national and privatized services, which are reciprocally connected by international regulations, organizations and international agreements. Paper letters and parcels can be sent to almost any country in the world relatively easily and cheaply. The Internet has made the process of sending letter-like messages nearly instantaneous, and in many cases and situations correspondents use email where they previously would have used letters. The volume of paper mail sent through the U.S. Postal Service has declined by more than 15% since its peak at 213&nbsp;billion pieces per annum in 2006.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://about.usps.com/future-postal-service/gcg-narrative.pdf |title=USPS volume report by The Boston Consulting Group on USPS public website |access-date=2019-09-02 |archive-date=2015-10-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151025220341/http://about.usps.com/future-postal-service/gcg-narrative.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/first-class-mail-1926-2010.pdf First Class Mail Volume, 1926–2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114113728/http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/first-class-mail-1926-2010.pdf |date=2012-01-14 }}</ref>

=== Organization ===

Some countries have organized their mail services as public limited liability corporations without a [[legal monopoly]].

The worldwide postal system constituting the individual national postal systems of the world's self-governing states is coordinated by the [[Universal Postal Union]], which among other things sets international postage rates, defines standards for [[postage stamp]]s and operates the system of [[international reply coupon]]s.

In most countries a system of codes has been created (referred to as ''[[ZIP code]]s'' in the United States, ''postcodes'' in the United Kingdom and Australia, ''[[eircode]]s'' in Ireland and ''[[postal code]]s'' in most other countries) in order to facilitate the automation of operations. This also includes placing additional marks on the address portion of the letter or mailed object, called "bar coding". Bar coding of mail for delivery is usually expressed either by a series of vertical bars, usually called [[POSTNET]] coding or a block of dots as a [[Barcode#2D barcodes|two-dimensional barcode]]. The "block of dots" method allows for the encoding of proof of payment of postage, exact routing for delivery, and other features.

[[File:APC 77598 Webster Texas.jpg|thumb|An automated postal machine]]

The ordinary mail service was improved in the 20th century with the use of planes for a quicker delivery. The world's first scheduled [[airmail]] post service took place in the United Kingdom between the London suburbs of [[Hendon]] and [[Windsor, Berkshire]], on 9 September 1911.<ref>Baldwin, N. C. (1960), p. 5, ''Fifty Years of British Air Mails'', Francis J.Field Ltd.</ref> Some methods of airmail proved ineffective, however, including the United States Postal Service's experiment with [[rocket mail]].

Receipt services were made available in order to grant the sender a confirmation of effective delivery.

=== Payment {{anchor |postage}}===

Before about the mid-nineteenth century, in regions where postal systems existed, the payment models varied, but most mail was sent unpaid requiring the recipient to pay the postage fee. In some regions a partial payment was made by the sender. Today, worldwide, the most common method of prepaying postage is by buying an adhesive [[postage stamp]] to be applied to the envelope before mailing; a much less common method is to use a postage-prepaid [[envelope]]. [[Franking]] is a method of creating postage-prepaid envelopes under licence using a special machine. They are used by companies with large mail programs, such as [[bank]]s and [[direct mail]] companies.

In 1998, the [[United States Postal Service|U.S. Postal Service]] authorised the first tests of a secure system of sending digital franks via the [[Internet]] to be printed out on a PC printer, obviating the necessity to license a dedicated franking machine and allowing companies with smaller mail programs to make use of the option; this was later expanded to test the use of personalized postage. The service provided by the U.S. Postal Service in 2003 allows the franks to be printed out on special adhesive-backed labels.

In 2004 the [[Royal Mail]] in the United Kingdom introduced its ''SmartStamp'' Internet-based system, allowing printing on ordinary adhesive labels or envelopes. Similar systems are being considered by postal administrations around the world.

When the pre-paid envelope or package is accepted into the mail by an agent of the postal service, the agent usually indicates by means of a [[Cancellation (mail)|cancellation]] that it is no longer valid for pre-payment of postage. The exceptions are when the agent forgets or neglects to cancel the mailpiece, for stamps that are pre-cancelled and thus do not require cancellation and for, in most cases, metered mail. (The "personalized stamps" authorized by the USPS and manufactured by Zazzle and other companies are in fact a form of meter label and thus do not need to be cancelled.)

=== Privacy and censorship ===
{{main|Postal censorship}}
[[File:IDET2007 StB steam envelope opener.jpg|thumb|"The Steamboat" – mobile steaming equipment used by Czech [[StB]] for unsticking of envelopes during correspondence surveillance]]
Documents should generally not be read by anyone other than the addressee; for example, in the United States of America it is a violation of federal law for anyone other than the addressee and the government to open mail.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/1702.html |title=United States Code: Title 18, 1702. Obstruction of correspondence |publisher=Legal Information Institute of Cornell University Law School |access-date=September 14, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100904142937/http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/1702.html |archive-date=September 4, 2010 }}</ref> There are exceptions however: executives often assign secretaries or assistants the task of handling their mail; and postcards do not require opening and can be read by anyone. For mail contained within an envelope, there are legal provisions in some jurisdictions allowing the recording of identities of sender and recipient.<ref name="deccan">[http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/jan172006/panorama19352006116.asp Back when spies played by the rules] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311121314/http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/jan172006/panorama19352006116.asp |date=2007-03-11 }}, ''Deccan Herald'', January 17, 2006. Retrieved 29 December 2006.</ref>

The privacy of correspondence is guaranteed by the constitutions of [[Constitution of Mexico|Mexico]], [[Constitution of Colombia|Colombia]], [[Constitution of Brazil|Brazil]] and [[Constitution of Venezuela|Venezuela]], and is alluded to in the [[European Convention on Human Rights]]<ref>Article 8(1): Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence. {{cite web |url=http://www.echr.coe.int/NR/rdonlyres/D5CC24A7-DC13-4318-B457-5C9014916D7A/0/EnglishAnglais.pdf |title=European Convention on Human Rights |access-date=2007-01-18 |archive-date=2009-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104073701/http://www.echr.coe.int/NR/rdonlyres/D5CC24A7-DC13-4318-B457-5C9014916D7A/0/EnglishAnglais.pdf |url-status=live }}&nbsp;{{small|(179&nbsp;KB)}}</ref> and the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]].<ref name="deccan"/> The control of the contents inside private citizens' mail is [[censorship]] and concerns social, political, and legal aspects of [[civil rights]]. International mail and packages are subject to [[customs]] control, with the mail and packages often surveyed and their contents sometimes edited out (or even in).{{Citation needed|date=June 2013}}

There have been cases over the millennia of governments opening and copying or photographing the contents of private mail.<ref name="deccan"/><ref>[http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/cointelpro/churchfinalreportIIIh.htm CIA Intelligence Collection About Americans] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227114615/http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/cointelpro/churchfinalreportIIIh.htm |date=2008-12-27 }} (400&nbsp;KB download)</ref> Subject to the laws in the relevant jurisdiction, correspondence may be openly or covertly opened, or the contents determined via some other method, by the police or other authorities in some cases relating to a suspected criminal conspiracy, although [[Cabinet noir|black chamber]]s (largely in the past, though there is apparently some continuance of their use today) opened extralegally.

The mail service may be allowed to open the mail if neither addressee nor sender can be located, in order to attempt to locate either. Mail service may also open the mail to inspect if it contains materials that are hazardous to transport or violate local laws.

While in most cases [[Postal censorship|mail censorship]] is exceptional, [[military mail]] to and from soldiers is often subject to surveillance.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=History comes to life with censored covers |url=https://www.linns.com/news/postal-updates-page/history-comes-to-life-with-censored-covers.html |access-date=2022-10-28 |website=Linns Stamp News |language=en |archive-date=2022-10-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221028040159/https://www.linns.com/news/postal-updates-page/history-comes-to-life-with-censored-covers.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The mail is censored to prevent leaking tactical secrets, such as troop movements or weather conditions.<ref name=":0" /> Depending on the country, civilian mail containing military secrets can also be monitored and censored.<ref name=":0" />

Mail sent to and from inmates in jails or prisons within the United States is subject to opening and review by jail or prison staff to determine if the mail has any criminal action dictated or provides means for an escape. The only mail that is not able to be read is attorney-client mail, which is covered under the attorney-client confidentiality laws in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Blind Spot in Attorney-Client Confidentiality |url=https://www.americanbar.org/advocacy/governmental_legislative_work/publications/washingtonletter/january_2020/bop-attorney-client/ |access-date=2022-07-01 |website=www.americanbar.org |language=en |archive-date=2022-07-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701213128/https://www.americanbar.org/advocacy/governmental_legislative_work/publications/washingtonletter/january_2020/bop-attorney-client/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Rise of electronic correspondence ===

Modern alternatives, such as the [[telegraph]], [[telephone]], [[telex]], [[fax|facsimile]], and [[email]], have reduced the attractiveness of paper mail for many applications. These modern alternatives have some advantages: in addition to their speed, they may be more secure, e.g., because the general public cannot learn the address of the sender or recipient from the envelope, and occasionally traditional items of mail may fail to arrive, e.g. due to vandalism to mailboxes, unfriendly pets, and adverse weather conditions. Mail carriers due to perceived hazards or inconveniences, may refuse, officially or otherwise, to deliver mail to a particular address (for instance, if there is no clear path to the door or mailbox). On the other hand, traditional mail avoids the possibility of computer malfunctions and [[malware]], and the recipient does not need to print it out if they wish to have a paper copy, though scanning is required to make a digital copy.

Physical mail is still widely used in business and personal communications for such reasons as legal requirements for [[signature]]s, requirements of etiquette, and the requirement to enclose small physical objects.

Since the advent of [[email]], which is almost always much faster, the postal system has come to be referred to in [[Internet slang]] by the [[retronym]] "[[Snail Mail (disambiguation)|snail mail]]". Occasionally, the term "white mail" has also been used as a neutral term for postal mail.

Mainly during the 20th century, experimentation with [[hybrid mail]] has combined electronic and paper delivery. Electronic mechanisms include [[telegram]], [[teleprinter|telex]], facsimile ([[fax]]), [[email]], and short message service ([[Short Message Service|SMS]]). There have been methods which have combined mail and some of these newer methods, such as temporary emails, that combine facsimile transmission with overnight delivery.<ref>{{cite web |title=Significant Years in U.S. Postal History |publisher=[[United States Postal Service]] |year=2015 |url=https://about.usps.com/publications/pub100/pub100_076.htm |access-date=13 May 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227063650/http://about.usps.com/publications/pub100/pub100_076.htm |archive-date=27 February 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Treaties |work=Postal Matters |publisher=United States Embassy, Bulgaria |date=25 June 1990 |url=http://bulgaria.usembassy.gov/postalmatters.html |access-date=13 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919081040/http://bulgaria.usembassy.gov/postalmatters.html |archive-date=19 September 2015 }}</ref> These vehicles commonly use a mechanical or electro-mechanical standardised writing (typing), that on the one hand makes for more efficient communication, while on the other hand makes impossible characteristics and practices that traditionally were in conventional mail, such as [[calligraphy]].

This epoch{{when|date=June 2013}} is undoubtedly mainly dominated by mechanical writing, with a general use of no more of half a dozen standard typographic [[typeface|fonts]] from standard keyboards. However, the increased use of typewritten or computer-printed letters for personal communication and the advent of email have sparked renewed interest in calligraphy, as a letter has become more of a "special event". Long before email and computer-printed letters, however, decorated envelopes, [[rubber stamp]]s and [[artistamp]]s formed part of the medium of [[mail art]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kordic |first1=Angie |title=How Did Mail Art Develop into a Global Art Movement? |url=https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/mail-art-correspondence-postal |website=Widewalls |publisher=Widewalls Modern & Contemporary Art Source |access-date=24 June 2023}}</ref>

In the 2000s (decade) with the advent of [[eBay]] and other online [[auction sites]] and [[online store]]s, postal services in industrialized nations have seen a major shift to item shipping. This has been seen as a boost to the system's usage in the wake of lower paper mail volume due to the accessibility of email.

[[Online post office]]s have emerged to give recipients a means of receiving traditional correspondence mail in a scanned electronic format.

=== Collecting ===
[[File:François Barraud - Le Philatéliste.jpg|thumb|''Le Philateliste'' by [[François Barraud]] (1929)]]
[[Postage stamp]]s are also object of a particular form of [[collecting]]. [[Stamp collecting]] has been a very popular [[hobby]]. In some cases, when demand greatly exceeds supply, their commercial value on this specific market may become enormously greater than face value, even after use. For some postal services the sale of stamps to collectors who will never use them is a significant source of revenue; for example, stamps from Tokelau, South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands, Tristan da Cunha, Niuafoʻou and many others. Stamp collecting is commonly known as [[philately]], although strictly the latter term refers to the study of stamps.

Another form of collecting regards [[postcard]]s, a document written on a single robust sheet of paper, usually decorated with photographic pictures or artistic drawings on one of the sides, and short messages on a small part of the other side, that also contained the space for the address. In strict philatelic usage, the postcard is to be distinguished from the [[postal card]], which has a pre-printed postage on the card. The fact that this communication is visible by other than the receiver often causes the messages to be written in [[jargon]].

Letters are often studied as an example of literature, and also in biography in the case of a famous person. A portion of the [[New Testament]] of the [[Bible]] is composed of the [[Apostle Paul]]'s [[epistle]]s to Christian congregations in various parts of the Roman Empire. See below for a list of famous letters.

A style of writing, called ''[[epistolary novel|epistolary]],'' tells a fictional story in the form of the correspondence between two or more characters.

A makeshift mail method after stranding on a deserted island is a [[message in a bottle]].

=== Deregulation ===

[[File:Mailboxes.jpg|thumb|In the United States, private companies, such as [[FedEx Corporation|FedEx]] and [[United Parcel Service|UPS]], compete with the federal government's [[United States Postal Service]], particularly for [[package delivery]]. Different mailboxes are also provided for local and express service. (The USPS has a [[legal monopoly]] on [[#First-Class|First Class]] and Standard Mail delivery.)]]
Numerous countries, including Sweden (1 January 1993),<ref>[http://www.citymail.se/Startsida_68.asp?meny=OmCityMail&bMeny=Om+CityMail City Mail, Sweden] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20050730091452/http://www.citymail.se/Startsida_68.asp?meny=OmCityMail&bMeny=Om+CityMail |date=2005-07-30 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj13n1/cj13n1-5.pdf |title=Frycklund, Jonas "Private Mail in Sweden", ''Cato Journal'' Vol. 13, No. 1 (1993) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070129050905/http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj13n1/cj13n1-5.pdf |archive-date=2007-01-29 }}&nbsp;{{small|(511&nbsp;KB)}}</ref> New Zealand (1998 and 2003), Germany (2005 and 2007), [[Argentina]] and [[Chile]] opened up the postal services market to new entrants. In the case of [[New Zealand Post|New Zealand Post Limited]], this included (from 2003) its right to be the sole New Zealand postal administration member of the [[Universal Postal Union]], thus the ending of its monopoly on stamps bearing the name New Zealand.