🚀 go-pugleaf

[The moderator interjects: I posted my original message to several
national newsgroups as well as to austin.eff, with a "Followup-To:
comp.org.eff.talk" line.  Those of you with Usenet access might want to
discuss this topic there, since the proposal was made to EFF-National.
The suggestion has been made, however, that EFF-Austin should do the
same thing for the Texas Legislature, an idea we could discuss here.
-- Prentiss Riddle, riddle@tic.com]

Prentiss sez:

> EFF should buy, borrow or lease a high-speed printer and a truckload of
> recycled paper.  It should set up electronic mail aliases in some
> sensible form (perhaps "Sam-Nunn@eff.org" and "tx10@eff.org") for all
> the members of Congress.  On a daily basis, EFF should print out each
> member's mailbox (preferably in some tree-saving reduced font) and haul
> them all over to the Capitol.  EFF should then publicize the scheme
> widely.
> 
> EFF might fear that the response would be overwhelming.  There are ways
> EFF could limit the response (by inserting a filter somewhere to limit
> messages to a certain length, or a certain number of messages per
> sender per day).  On the other hand, the greater the response, the more
> dramatic the demonstration of the desire of the networked public for
> the electronic democracy we've all been talking about.  Eventually
> Congress should get the message and set up its own, paperless gateway.

great idea, I think.  It would be nice for the filter to
detect form letters, too, and respond to the originator of
"duplicate" mailings that rephrased or original messages
are more effective than form mail.  This would also 
emphasize that EFF has a constituency.

Finally, if some really responsible reps agree to treat
email as the equivalent to letters sent via snail mail
(or better, as equivalent to telegrams) and agrees to 
accept them electronically, the real breakthrough will
have come.

-lar

(You knew, of course, that Bill Clinton's email address is
75300.3115@compuserve.com)