Obama determined to continue using BlackBerry

Washington, January 17 (ANI): Barack Obama is reportedly desperate to continue using his BlackBerry even after assuming office as the 44th President of the United States.

If Obama retains his hand-held electronic device, he will become the first sitting president to use e-mail.

However, no final decision has been made as yet on whether Obama will continue using his Blackberry.

Previous presidents did not use e-mail because it can be subpoenaed by Congress and courts and may be subject to public records laws.

"The president-elect would like to keep his Blackberry to maintain contacts with his friends outside the bubble of the White House, but no decision has been made yet," Fox News quoted transition spokeswoman Jen Psaki as saying.

Senior adviser David Axelrod, however, told ABC News: "He's pretty determined."

Even this is unclear whether Obama's personal communications would also be public under the Presidential Records Act, which requires the National Archives to preserve presidential records.

"If the president were using a BlackBerry, the requirement would be that we be able to store those messages and retain them for future use," said Sharon Fawcett, director of presidential libraries at the National Archives.

She, however, added: "If the president is e-mailing his wife about what time he'll be home for dinner or checking on when the girls' play is at Sidwell Friends and whether or not he's going to be going, those are not constitutional and statutory business of the president. Those are personal messages, so we wouldn't have that." (ANI)