The "new" USPS regulations were adopted after the UNIBOMBER, 9/11 and anthrax attacks. Both the airlines and the Postal Service drew up the rules in an effort to stop these types of things from happening again.

In the UNIBOMBER case, all packages were over 1 pound, all were mailed with postage stamps affixed to the parcel and there were no return addresses. A parcel with just stamps attached and no return address cannot be traced back to the sender. They (along with the anthrax letters, which were only 1 ounce) were also mailed from a "corner mailbox" so thet no one actually saw the person mail the package.

Therefor, the following rules were adopted:

1. Any package that weighs over 1 pound, and has stamps affixed as postage, must be presented, in person, to a clerk at a post office. That way the clerk can check the package, ask questions, date-stamp the stamps and, all the while you are standing there, you are being videotaped by the security camera. That way the Postal Service has a record of who mailed the package.

2. The same rules apply to ALL packages being mail overseas.

These rules are there to protect the airline and postal employees and the general public. Most, if not all, corner mailboxes in the US have a label attached to them stating the above rules.