Fun_People Archive
2 Jun
ANNOUNCEMENT OF WHITE HOUSE ELECTRONIC MAIL ACCESS

Date: Wed,  2 Jun 93 02:44:34 PDT
To: Fun_People
Subject: ANNOUNCEMENT OF WHITE HOUSE ELECTRONIC MAIL ACCESS

 From: Keith Bostic <bostic@vangogh.CS.Berkeley.EDU>


	              Office of Presidential Correspondence

	______________________________________________________________
	For Immediate Release                             June 1, 1993  

	     
	          LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT
	      IN ANNOUNCEMENT OF WHITE HOUSE ELECTRONIC MAIL ACCESS
	     
	     


	     Dear Friends:

	     Part of our commitment to change is to keep the White House 
	in step with 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 history, the White House will be 
	connected to you via electronic mail.  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 regarding electronic mail 
	is expected to come from the House of Representatives tomorrow.

	     Various government agencies also will be taking part in the 
	near future.  Americans Communicating Electronically is a project 
	developed by several government agencies to coordinate and 
	improve access to the nation's educational and information assets 
	and resources.  This will be done through interactive 
	communications such as electronic mail, and brought to people who 
	do not have ready access to a computer.
	     
	     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 government and streamline our 
	processes, the e-mail project can help to put us on the leading 
	edge of progress.  

	     Initially, your e-mail message will be read and receipt 
	immediately 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 hoping this will happen by 
	the end of the year.

	     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 programs will change periodically as we 
	experiment with the best way to handle electronic mail from the 
	public.  Since this has never been tried 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 participation and enthusiasm for this milestone 
	event.  We eagerly anticipate the day when electronic mail from 
	the public is an integral and normal part of the White House 
	communications system.



	          President Clinton        Vice President Gore
	     	  
	     PRESIDENT@WHITEHOUSE.GOV      VICE.PRESIDENT@WHITEHOUSE.GOV


	                               ###

______________________________________________________________________________

[So ...]

vangogh:sort {61} finger PRESIDENT@WHITEHOUSE.GOV
[WHITEHOUSE.GOV]

vangogh:sort {62} finger @WHITEHOUSE.GOV
[WHITEHOUSE.GOV]

vangogh:sort {63} telnet WHITEHOUSE.GOV 25
Trying 198.137.240.100...
Connected to WHITEHOUSE.GOV.
Escape character is '^]'.
220 SMTP/smap Ready.
vrfy president
250 <president>
expn president
250 <president>
quit
221 Closing connection
Connection closed by foreign host.

[Well, it's a start.]

© 1993 Peter Langston