Date: Thu, 30 Apr 92 22:58:58 PDT From: jwarren@AUTODESK.COM(Jim Warren) Subject: File 2--Pres. Candidates ONLINE (Perot, Bush, Clinton, Brown, etc.) Please copy, post & circulate It's time to have an ONLINE presidential debate/forum. Here is the message I just faxed and snailmailed to the indicated presidential candidates. ** Please send your own request (feel free to modify this one if you wish).** ** If they get enough requests, they will be pressured to participate. ** ** (When you send a request to them, please send a note of it to me.) ** Greetings, We invite you to join an ONLINE presidential candidates' forum. Ross Perot has proposed using "electronic town-hall meetings" to allow citizens to participate in their/our government. Jerry Brown has reaped national headlines from "going online" on a small computer network (GEnie) to discuss his candidacy with a national audience. George Bush signed legislation last year, to greatly enhance the nation's "electronic highway system" that already connects 1.3-million computers. There are about 8- to 15-million people who are "online" -- using computer-teleconferencing and electronic-mail services across this cooperative web of computers called the "Internet." Several million people regularly read news and participate in public discussions using this network. Perot and Brown have shown that they know how to use these "electronic highways" to share their views with those whom they propose to represent. We ask you to do the same. We ask you to make your views available to 8- to 15-million people. You can do so, at little or no cost to you or to your audience. Here's how: 1. You will "speak" by electronically "posting" your remarks on the network within a one-week period -- at any time and place that is convenient for you, night or day, using any normal telephone. [also, please see item 9, below] 2. You will post (1) position-statements and comments on issues of interest to you, similar to"opening remarks" in a face-to-face debate, and (2) your responses to questions from reporters selected by the nation's leading news media. 3. The reporters will be chosen by daily newspapers with at least 250,000 circulation, plus recognized national news-magazines, plus the national television networks. These organizations will be invited to select one of their editorial/news staff to pose questions to you throughout the one-week period. Reporters will be encouraged to pose follow-up questions and to post special note if a candidate fails to respond to a question by the end of the week's forum. 4. Both the candidates and the reporters will be encouraged to consult with others in drafting their questions, responses and comments. The number of questions per reporter will be limited by agreement among that group. 5. For each question or comment, reporters will be limited to 10-lines x 80-characters/line. Each of your responses will be limited to 40-lines x 80-characters/line. There will be separate facilities provided where you can post more extended comments and position-papers, if you wish to do so. 6. All participants will agree that their questions, responses and comments are to be in the public domain and may be copied without further permission. 7. The participating reporters will agree to accept electronic-mail from anyone wishing to send it to them during the one-week period, and their electronic addresses will be attached to each of their questions. Thus, everyone else online will be able to suggest questions and offer additional information and comments to the reporters. 8. In parallel with this debate/forum where participation will be limited to presidential candidates and the questioning reporters, there will also be a nationwide public forum in which everyone online may discuss the questions, your responses and the issues that are raised -- via an established system for such discussion already in use by several million people. 9. We will schedule this forum as soon as one or more major national candidates agree. It will take place regardless of whether all candidates choose to participate. 10. There will be no cost to your campaign -- assuming that your campaign has access to a personal-computer with a telephone-modem and can find someone you trust* who can operate it and is familiar with how to use the network. * - If you cannot locate a computer person, we will be happy to distribute a request for volunteers across the network for you. A copy of this has been faxed and mailed to other candidates as noted, below. Copies have also been posted to numerous online newsletters and newsgroups, and e-mailed to numerous leaders across the network. You may be somewhat-able to gauge likely-interest in this proposal by the number of similar requests you receive in the next several weeks, by phone-call, fax and "snailmail." I would be happy to discuss this with you or your staff, and look forward to your timely reply -- which will also be promptly publicized across the nets. I remain, Sincerely, /s/ Jim Warren Electronic Civil Liberties Initiative 345 Swett Road Woodside CA 94062 415-851-7075; fax/415-851-2814; e-mail/jwarren@well.sf.ca.us [ And, for identification purposes only: founder, InfoWorld newspaper; Contributing Editor & "futures" columnist, MicroTimes (~200,000 circulation); organizer & Chair, First Conference on Computers, Freedom & Privacy (1991); a recipient, first Pioneer Awards (1992), Electronic Frontier Foundation; founding host, PBS television's "Computer Chronicles" series; founding President, Microcomputer Industry Trade Association; member, Board of Directors, Autodesk, Inc.; etc. ] cc: H. Ross Perot, P.O.Box 517010, 12377 Merit Dr.#1100, Dallas TX 75251-7010 attn: Sharon Holman or Tom Luce, unofficial campaign honcho/a national/800-685-7777; in Texas/214-419-5000; fax/800-925-1300 Jerry Brown, 2121 Cloverfield Blvd.#120, Santa Monica CA 90404-5277 attn: Jodie Evans, campaign manager national/800-426-1112; in California/310-449-1992; fax/310-449-1903 George Bush, 1030 15th St. NW, Washington DC 20005 attn: Robert Mosbacher, campaign manager national/202-336-7080; [no 800-number]; fax/202-336-7117 Bill Clinton, P.O.Box 615, 1220 W. 3rd St., Little Rock AR 72201 attn: Dave Wilhelm & Jeff Eller, campaign manager & campaign spokesperson national/501-372-1992; [no 800-number]; fax/501-372-2292 [Send other copies to the presidential candidates of *your* choice.] Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253