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EFFector Online Volume 5 No. 10 6/11/1993 editors@eff.org
A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424
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In this issue:
Accessing the Federal Government
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Over the past two weeks, the White House and the U.S. House of
Representatives each announced that they had set up systems for receiving
electronic mail through the Internet. These official announcements, as
nformation online, are included in this issue of EFFector Online.
************************************************
***E-MAIL TO THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT***
************************************************
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of Presidential Correspondence
__________________________________________
For Immediate Release
June 1, 1993
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT
Dear Friends:
today's changing technology. As we move ahead into the twenty-first
century, we must have a government that can show the way and lead by
example. Today, we are pleased to announce that for the first time in
Electronic mail will bring the Presidency and this Administration closer
and make it more accessible to the people.
The White House will be connected to the Internet as well as several
on-line commercial vendors, thus making us more accessible and more in
touch with people across this country. We will not be alone in this
venture. Congress is also getting involved, and an exciting announcement
Representatives tomorrow.
Various government agencies also will be taking part in the near future.
Americans Communicating Electronically is a project developed by several
educational and information assets and resources. This will be done
through interactive communications such as electronic mail, and brought to
However, we must be realistic about the limitations and expectations of the
White House electronic mail system. This experiment is the first-ever
e-mail project done on such a large scale. As we work to reinvent
us on the leading edge of progress.
acknowledged. A careful count will be taken on the number received as well
as the subject of each message. However, the White House is not yet
capable of sending back a tailored response via electronic mail. We are
A number of response-based programs which allow technology to help us read
your message more effectively, and, eventually respond to you
electronically in a timely fashion will be tried out as well. These
before, it is important to allow for some flexibility in the system in
these first stages. We welcome your suggestions.
This is an historic moment in the White House and we look forward to your
anticipate the day when electronic mail from the public is an integral and
normal part of the White House communications system.
*************************************************
***E-MAIL TO THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES***
*************************************************
ANNOUNCEMENT OF ELECTRONIC MAIL SYSTEM
BY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Chairman Charlie Rose and Ranking Minority Member Bill Thomas of the
Committee on House Administration announced today the pilot program of the
Constituent Electronic Mail System.
This groundbreaking new service will allow citizens to communicate directly
Representatives has established an electronic gateway to the Internet, the
vast computer network that is used currently by over 12 million people
mailboxes which may be accessed by their constituents from their home
computers. In addition, many libraries, schools and other public
nstitutions now provide, or soon will provide, public access to the
The Members of the House of Representatives who have agreed to participate
n this pilot program are: Rep. Jay Dickey (AR-07), Rep. Sam Gejdenson
(CT-02), Rep. Newt Gingrich (GA-06), Rep. George Miller (CA-07), Rep.
Charlie Rose (NC-07), Rep. Fortney Pete Stark (CA-13), and Rep. Melvin Watt
(NC-12). These Members will be making announcements in their congressional
new service.
The Constituent Electronic Mail System represents a significant effort by
the House of Representatives to expand communication with constituents.
With the tremendous growth of electronic mail over the past several years,
and the increasingly inter-connected nature of computer networks, the new
available to constituents. At the present time, House Members involved in
the pilot program will largely respond to electronic mail messages from
their constituents by postal mail, to ensure confidentiality.
Constituents of House Members participating in the pilot program who wish
to communicate with those Members will be asked to send a letter or
nclude the constituent's Internet ``address,'' as well as that
constituent's name and postal address. This process will allow Members to
dentify an electronic mail user as his or her constituent.
The pilot e-mail program will continue until sufficient feedback from
modifications to the system. When House Information Systems and the
Committee on House Administration are satisfied that the system is
this new service as technical, budgetary and staffing concerns allow.
For more information, Internet users are encouraged to contact the House of
Representative's new on-line information service. Please send a request
for information to CONGRESS@HR.HOUSE.GOV.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
CONSTITUENT ELECTRONIC MAIL SYSTEM
We welcome your inquiry to the House of Representatives Constituent
Electronic Mail System. Currently, seven Members of the U.S. House of
Representatives have been assigned public electronic mailboxes that may be
accessed by their constituents. This effort represents a pilot program
that will be used to assess the impact of electronic mail on Congressional
offices and their mission of serving the residents of a Congressional
District. This initial project will be expanded to other Members of
Congress, as technical, budgetary and staffing constraints allow.
Congressional District in which you reside is listed, follow the
nstructions below to begin communicating by electronic mail with your
Representative. If your Representative is not yet on-line, please be
U.S. REPRESENTATIVES PARTICIPATING IN THE CONSTITUENT ELECTRONIC MAIL SYSTEM
Hon. Jay Dickey
Rm. 1338, Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Hon. Sam Gejdenson
Rm. 2416, Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Hon. Newton Gingrich
Rm. 2428, Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Hon. George Miller
Rm. 2205, Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Hon. Charlie Rose
Rm. 2230, Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Hon. 'Pete' Stark
Rm. 239, Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Hon. Mel Watt
Rm. 1232, Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
you to send a letter or postcard by U.S.Mail to that Representative at the
address listed above requesting electronic mail access. In your
correspondence, please print your name and INTERNET ADDRESS, followed by
your postal (geographical) address. When your Representative receives the
letter or postcard, you will receive a reply by electronic mail that will
nclude the Representative's Internet address. After you receive this
nitial message, you will be able to write your Member of Congress at any
time, provided you follow certain guidelines that will be included in that
nitial message.
We are aware that it is an inconvenience for electronic mail users to be
Representative. However, the primary goal of this pilot program is to
allow Members to better serve their CONSTITUENTS, and this initial postal
user is a resident of a particular congressional district.
electronic mail should be aware that Members will respond to their messages
n the same manner that they respond to most communications from
constituents. That is, Members will generally respond to messages by way
of the U.S. Postal Service. This method of reply will help to ensure
confidentiality, a concern that is of utmost importance to the House of
Representatives.
COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS
the Congressional Comment Desk, at
COMMENTS@HR.HOUSE.GOV
We will make every effort to integrate suggestions into forthcoming updates
of our system.
Thank you again for contacting the House of Representatives' Constituent
Electronic Mail System. We are excited about the possibilities that e-mail
expand our services. We feel that this pilot program is an important first
This message will be updated as necessary.
Honorable Charlie Rose (D-NC)
Chairman
Committee on House Administration
**************************************
***FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)***
**************************************
WHITE HOUSE ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS AND PUBLIC ACCESS EMAIL -- FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS
Updated April 7, 1993
Table Of Contents
A. Widely Available Sources.
B. Notes on Widely Available Sources.
C. Direct Email Distribution
- WAIS
- GOPHER
- FedWorld BBS
- CompuServe
- America OnLine
- MCI
- Fidonet
- Internet
The White House Communications office is distributing press releases over
an experimental system developed during the campaign at the MIT Artificial
You can obtain copies of all the press releases from a wide variety of
on-line services or discussion groups devoted to either national politics
n general or President Clinton in particular. These are listed in
Section I.C. explains how you can sign up to receive press releases
message traffic. A more powerful system will become available in due
course, and in the meantime, it would be appreciated if you used this
and archiving. If you use it, you will be carried forward when the more
A. WIDELY AVAILABLE SOURCES
Direct Distribution
alt.politics.clinton
alt.politics.org.misc
alt.politics.reform
alt.politics.usa.misc
alt.news-media
alt.activism
talk.politics.misc
Indirect Distribution
misc.activism.progressive
cmu.soc.politics
assocs.clinton-gore-92
B. NOTES ON WIDELY AVAILABLE SOURCES
[Editor's note: #1 seems to be missing from the original file]
of the Clinton administration's policies and activities. The forum's
library consists of news releases and twice daily media briefings from the
White House Office of Media Affairs. CompuServe members can exchange
nformation and opinions with each other in the 17 sections in the forum's
message area. The message board spans a broad range of topics, including
nternational and United Nations activities, defense, health care, the
economy and the deficit, housing and urban development, the environment,
and education and national service.
n the News & Finance department of the service and accessible via keywords
"white house" and "clinton." The White House Forum on America Online
contains the press releases from the White House, divided into the
categories "Press Briefings," "Meetings & Speeches," "Foreign Policy," "The
Economy," "Technology," "Health Care," and "Appointments." The area
features a message board so you can discuss the releases with other AOL
members, and a searchable database for easy retrieval of releases in the
topic that interests you.
available boards are: WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC, WHITE HOUSE FOREIGN, WHITE
HOUSE SOCIAL, WHITE HOUSE SPEECHES and WHITE HOUSE NEWS. A listing of
these boards can also be obtained by simply typing VIEW WHITE HOUSE at the
COMMAND prompt.
C. DIRECT EMAIL DISTRIBUTION
up for this service. The server is not set up to answer email letters,
comments or requests for specific information. To reach this MIT server,
To: Clinton-Info@Campaign92.Org Subject: Help
The server works by reading the subject line of the incoming message and
taking whatever action that line calls for. If you want to sign up to
automatically receive press releases, then your subject line would begin
are interested in receiving. The categories of information are:
ECONOMIC POLICY -- Get releases related to the economy such as budget news,
technology policy review, etc.
FOREIGN POLICY -- Get releases related to foreign policy such as statements
on Bosnian airdrop, Haitian refugee status, etc.
SOCIAL POLICY -- Get releases related to social issues like National
Service (Student Loan) program, abortion, welfare reform, etc.
SPEECHES -- All speeches made by the President and important speeches made
by other Administration officials.
NEWS -- Transcripts of press conferences released by the White House
Communications office, as well as the President's remarks in photo ops and
other Q&A sessions.
ALL -- All of the above.
So, if you wanted to sign up to get releases related to the economy your
email message would look like this:
To: Clinton-Info@Campaign92.Org Subject: RECEIVE ECONOMY
When you send a signup message to the clinton-info server, it sends you
back a status message letting you know what distribution streams you are
for send the following message:
To: Clinton-Info@Campaign92.Org Subject: STATUS
You can stop receiving email releases by sending a REMOVE message to the
clinton-info server. The word REMOVE would be followed by whatever
message about the ECONOMY then your mail would look like this:
To: Clinton-Info@Campaign92.Org Subject: REMOVE ECONOMY
You could substitute SOCIAL, FOREIGN, SPEECHES, NEWS or ALL for ECONOMY in
the above message and you would be dropped from that distribution list. If
you send the subject line REMOVE ALL, then you will be taken off the email
any kind.
You can also ask for help from the automated server. Send an email query
as follows:
To: Clinton-Info@Campaign92.Org Subject: HELP
The server will respond by sending you a detailed form that will guide you
through the process of signing up for the various distribution streams. As
you will quickly discover, there is a automatic form processing interface
that parallels the quick and easy subject line commands discussed here.
More detailed help is available by sending an email query as follows:
To: Clinton-Info@Campaign92.Org Subject: Please Help!
Finally, if you want to search and retrieve documents, but you do not have
access to the retrieval methods discussed in section II, you can do this
via email through the MIT server. You can obtain the WAIS query form by
To: Clinton-Info@Campaign92.Org Subject: WAIS
Once you have identified the documents that you want, be careful not to
the documents and this message may be too big for some mail delivery
Various sites are archiving the press releases distributed . What follows
s an incomplete list of some of the sites containing the documents that
as they become known.
SITE DIRECTORY
Notes: The following are notes on how to log in and get information from
the above sites.
maintains the full collection of White House electronic releases available
for search with WAIS and also accessible via Gopher.
"/home3/wais/White-House-Papers" :ip-address "152.2.22.81" :ip-name
"sunsite.unc.edu" :tcp-port 210 :cost 0.00 :cost-unit :free :maintainer
"pjones@sunsite.unc.edu" :description "Server created with WAIS release 8
b5 on Feb 27 15:16:16 1993 by pjones@sunsite.unc.edu These are the White
House Press Briefings and other postings dealing with William Jefferson
Clinton and Albert Gore as well as members of the President's Cabinet and
the first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, Chelsea, Socks and others in
Washington DC. Dee Dee Meyers and George Stephanopoulos. Other good
files are also available via anonymous ftp from sunsite.unc.edu The files
of type filename used in the index were:
/home3/ftp/pub/academic/political-science/whitehouse-papers/1993 ")
Folks without WAIS clients or gophers that act as WAIS clients may telnet
to sunsite.unc.edu and login as swais to access this information via WAIS.
client-server implementations and various gopher clients are available for
nearly any computing platform. You may now use gopher clients to assess
the White House Papers and other political information on SunSITE.unc.edu's
new gopher server. You may also add links from your local gopher server to
SunSITE for access to the White House Papers.
For gopher server keepers and adventurous clients to access SunSITE you
need only know that we use the standard gopher port 70 and that our
nternet address is SunSITE.unc.edu (152.2.22.81). Point there and you'll
For folks without gopher clients but with access to telnet: telnet
options end with a directory mark (/), searching options end with an
question mark (?). There's plenty of on-line help available.
administration releases distributed through the MIT servers are available
via anonymous FTP. These logs contain in addition to the official
list subscribers. To obtain the logs: FTP MARISTB.MARIST.EDU - the logs
are in the CLINTON directory and are named CLINTON LOG9208 thru CLINTON
LOGyymm where yymm stands for the current year and month. Problems should
be directed to my attention: URLS@MARISTC.BITNET or URLS@VM.MARIST.EDU.
Clinton documents on technology and privacy at the CPSR Internet Library,
available via FTP/WAIS/Gopher at cpsr.org /cpsr/clinton (and in other
folders as relevant). For email access, send a message with the word
"help" at the 1st line of text to listserv@cpsr.org.
file library. Connect to FedWorld by calling (703) 321- 8020. No parity,
eight data bits and one stop bit (N-8-1). FedWorld accommodates baud
library of files. To access this library from the main FedWorld menu,
enter
after the date include: rem - Remarks by the President; pc - Press
Conference transcript; pr - Press Release; AM - AM Press Briefing; PM -
major speeches. These files are saved in ASCII format. Files can be
viewed online by requesting to download a file and then selecting (L)ist as
the download protocol. This will display the file a screen at a time.
White House papers are kept in the above format for up to two months.
file that contains all of the files for that month (e.g., 0193.zip contains
all papers released during January 1993). In addition to White Documents,
FedWorld also provides a gateway to more than 100 government funded BBSs
and computer systems.
The White House email system is under construction. This is a new project
and suffers from all of the problems common to a startup operation. The
Communications office is currently working on defining what this system
Nobody wants this new venture to work more than the staff that has devoted
be required before the system is truly interactive. In the mean time, they
message to the White House, please include a US Post office address for
You can send email to the following accounts:
CompuServe: 75300,3115; GO: WHITE HOUSE finds White House forum
America OnLine: clinton pz; KEYWORD: WHITEHOUSE finds White House area
MCI: TO: WHITE HOUSE; VIEW WHITE HOUSE views bulletin boards
Fidonet: TO: WHITEHOUSE@1:2613/333; Echomail: WHITEHOUSE views echomail
conference
clintonpz@AOL.Com
Updates@Clinton92.Org
**************************
***THE FEDERAL REGISTER***
**************************
Good news everyone! The Federal Register is now on the Net! For those who
To summarize, for $10 an hour, you can access a gopher client that will
telnet or gopher to netsys1.netsys.com and logon as FEDREG with password
REGISTER. This will allow you to browse about the system and check out how
t looks and works.
Contact the publisher for more info:
Counterpoint Publishing
Cambridge, MA 02140
(800) 998-4515
Email: fedreg@internet.com
*************************
***LIBRARY OF CONGRESS***
*************************
The Library of Congress Information System (LOCIS) is now available over
the Internet. The telnet address is:
locis.loc.gov 140.147.254.3 (no login or password)
LOCIS accepts both telnet 3270 and line mode.
LOCIS includes over 15 million catalog records and over 10 million records
for other types of information: federal legislation, copyright
materials.
Searching hours are (all times USA eastern; closed national holidays):
Monday - Friday: 6:30am - 9:30pm
Saturday: 8:00am - 5:00pm
Sunday: 1:00pm - 5:00pm
via FTP (ftp seq1.loc.gov /pub/LC.Online). There will be a LOCIS Quick
Search Guide and a LOCIS Reference Manual.
LC Online Internet: lconline@seq1.loc.gov
Library of Congress
**********************************
***U.S. SUPREME COURT DECISIONS***
**********************************
Electronic Dissemination of U.S. Supreme Court Decisions
experiment in disseminating its opinions electronically. Case Western
Reserve University was one of the participants in the pilot project. In
the Fall of 1992, the Court decided that the experiment in electronic
calendar year, the U.S. Supreme Court began disseminating opinions
electronically on an official basis. CWRU will continue to electronically
* * *
The file names are as they are received from the Supreme Court. The
extentions are .O for the Opinion, .S for the Syllabus, .C for Concurring
opinions, and .D for Dissenting opinions. The ascii files also have a
.filt extention.
You can contact Project Hermes via e.mail on the Cleveland Free-Net at:
aa584, via the Internet at: aa584@cleveland.freenet.edu, by writing:
calling: (216) 368-2733
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