"But before he arrives at the White House, he will probably be forced to sign off. In addition to concerns about e-mail security, he faces the Presidential Records Act, which puts his correspondence in the official record and ultimately up for public review, and the threat of subpoenas. A decision has not been made on whether he could become the first e-mailing president, but aides said that seemed doubtful...
For all the perquisites and power afforded the president, the chief executive of the United States is essentially deprived by law and by culture of some of the very tools that other chief executives depend on to survive and to thrive. Mr. Obama, however, seems intent on pulling the office at least partly into the 21st century on that score; aides said he hopes to have a laptop computer on his desk in the Oval Office, making him the first American president to do so." - Bret Taylor
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"From my cold, dead hands, Mr. Emanuel . . . from my cold, dead hands!" - Barack Obama - John Craft
re:Obama/ no more Blackberry NYTimes - I would think he could legitimately use a short burst public messaging service like Twitter (likely not Twitter itself) to send public messages like the "Sox!" message they discuss without issue. As long as everything said in that channel was public and treated as so I don't see the issue... humanizes the position I say. - Ben Hedrington
French president Sarkozy emails his wife all the time! - Tammy
change the rules .. this is not a king's court, and courtiers and their rules should get out - Gregory Lent
I can see him changing the rules. He's done it for everything else. - flammable
Change the Presidential Records Act? Can you imagine the outrage if Bush tried to do that? - Brian Newman
Why does he need to change the Presidential Records Act? Communicate simply, probably not on complex issues, in the open in public seems to jive with the act to me... "Enjoying a nice dinner with friends" type messages... humanizes the role... - Ben Hedrington
Two commenters suggested a change to the rules. I'm with you. He is not prohibited from using a Blackberry. He can use one if he chooses. He just needs to be aware that every email he sends can wind up in public. Which I'm sure has his advisors shitting their pants. - Brian Newman
Doesn't the maxim already advise us so anyway: treat all mail you send as if it might be divulged eventually. - John Lam
For most of us, any e-mail we send is exactly as secure as a message sent via a postcard. - Stephen Mack
This could be the CHANGE Obama was talking about. Out with the BlackBerry, in with the iPhone. - Kevin Singarayar
well, as long as they set up his device with encrypted security and host the incoming and outgoing email servers, i don't see a problem. - Dustin
@zeigen postcards are _more_ secure due harder costs on sniffing. - silpol
I don't know if I was just more apathetic before, but I'm fascinated at all this behind-the-scenes transition stuff I'm just reading about now. Agree that being allowed to use e-mail or at least Twitter would continue to humanize our beloved Pres. Barack, but I also see how it could be a risk, because nothing's 100% hackerproof. It's a cat and mouse game and there will always be someone out there with a ton of determination and even more time on his or her hands. - Rebecca Sun
The first president to have a laptop on his desk? WTF did all the rest do, have everything hand-delivered to them in print form? Did they have someone read it to them, also? Mr. Singarayar - lol, no. He's an executive - no time for toys! - Mr. Gunn
On day one, he's gonna set up a FF account and put his legs up and hang out with US! - Josh Haley
Nixon was *all over* magnetic tape audio recording technology. With a top security clearance personal secretary as IT support, what could go wrong. - Micah Wittman
"“You would have an auto industry in the United States more like that of Mexico and Canada: foreign-owned,” said Sean McAlinden, chief economist at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., which describes itself as a nonprofit organization that has “strong relationships with industry, government agencies, universities, research institutes, labor organizations” and other groups with an interest in the auto business.
The transition to that new equilibrium would surely be painful. The big American companies employ about 240,000 workers, and their suppliers an additional 2.3 million, amounting to nearly 2 percent of the nation’s work force." - Bret Taylor
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just like when dollar starting to fall foreign currencies slowed down its fall... - Hayk
