From: smb@research.att.com
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 93 22:39:22 PDT
To: "J. Michael Diehl" <mdiehl@triton.unm.edu>
Subject: Re: WH email petition.
Message-ID: <9306020539.AA25821@toad.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


	 In light of the White House getting on the net, how effective
	 do you all think an electronic petition, about the
	 BigBrotherChip, would be?  Do you think that they would
	 listen?  Do you think that, perhapse, we would simply be put
	 on a list of "trouble makers?"  I was thinking of writting a
	 petition and distributing it in every way I can think of, and
	 encouraging people to send it to the White House.  Any
	 comments?

In general, petitions are a notoriously ineffective way to lobby.
That's doubly so for email versions, for obvious reasons.  Even
without that problem, an electronic petition will (rightly) be ignored
on the grounds that it represents the opinions of a small elite
minority.  With signatures collected in the streets and shopping malls
of America, you have at least some chance of reaching a cross-section
of people.  But on the net?  (And even if I'm wrong about the net's
population, would they know it?)

As for a trouble-maker list -- not likely.  Apart from the political
hell there'd be to pay if word ever leaked (the right to complain to
the government is quite explicit in the Constitution, and is legally
far stronger than the still-controversial right to privacy (remember
Bork?)), I haven't seen any evidence that broad-scale ``enemies lists''
have been collected since Nixon's day.  That may, of course, mean
they've just gotten smarter about how they do it...  Based on my past
experience, your name will be collected -- but just as a person
interested in certain issues, so that you can be solicited for funds
on certain issues.

		--Steve Bellovin