Freedom of Information
Secret Fed Loans Gave Banks $13 Billion
“The Federal Reserve and the big banks fought for more than two years to keep details of the largest bailout in U.S. history a secret. Now, the rest of the world can see what it was missing. . . A fresh narrative of the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009 emerges from 29,000 pages of Fed documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and central bank records of more than 21,000 transactions. While Fed officials say that almost all of the loans were repaid and there have been no losses, details suggest taxpayers paid a price beyond dollars as the secret funding helped preserve a broken status quo and enabled the biggest banks to grow even bigger.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-28/secret-fed-loans-undisclosed-to-congress-gave-banks-13-billion-in-income.html
New FOIA Dispute Tracking System Launched by National Archives FOIA Ombudsman
“The National Archives Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) – the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Ombudsman – launched a new online case management system on November 28. The new OGIS Access System (OAS) will manage the requests for assistance that FOIA requesters and agencies bring to OGIS. This tool will both streamline OGIS’s work and increase transparency of its operations.”
http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2012/nr12-39.html
Senate adopts Leahy transparency amendment to defense bill
“The U.S. Senate Thursday adopted an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) authored by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to limit an overbroad legislative exemption to the Freedom of Information Act. The amendment was adopted unanimously. The Senate will vote on final passage of the NDAA later this evening. Leahy’s amendment adds a public interest balancing test requiring the Secretary of Defense to consider whether the disclosure of critical infrastructure information would reveal vulnerabilities that would result in harm to government property or facilities, and whether the public interest in the disclosure of this information outweighs the government’s need to withhold the information.”
http://vtdigger.org/2011/12/01/senate-adopts-leahy-transparency-amendment-to-defense-bill/
California Newspapers Fight Legislature’s Stiff-Arm
“In advance of a Friday hearing on the media’s right to information about legislative spending, newly filed court documents claim the Legislature routinely responds to requests for information by releasing “limited information” that is “woefully incomplete” and “misleading at best.” The Los Angeles Times and Sacramento Bee sued the Legislature in August, claiming that lawmakers consistently block newspapers’ attempts to glean information about the Assembly’s spending.”
http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/12/01/41856.htm
Promises, Promises: Records shielded by candidates
“Romney’s selective policy toward public access and preservation of his executive records raises stark questions about how transparent his administration would be if he were to become president. He’s not alone. Other leading candidates for the presidency — incumbent Barack Obama and Texas Gov. Rick Perry — have touted their commitment to transparency. But their administrations also have been selective at times in the records they disclose. They have limited, stalled or denied access when it suited their purposes.”
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111201/ap_on_el_pr/us_campaigns_transparency
Senate Finally Publishes Its Spending Online, But Could Do Much Better
“At long last, the U.S. Senate has begun online publication of how it spends money on itself – barely meeting the statutory deadline. The House of Representatives began publishing its statement of disbursements online in November 2009 per then-Speaker Pelosi’s directive; the Senate belatedly followed suit after Senator Tom Coburn’s amendment to the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act in July 2009 finally kicked in, two years later.”
http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2011/11/30/senate-finally-publishes-its-spending-online-but-could-do-much-better/
Extreme Secrecy on Bush & Cheney Records
“A reporter sued the National Archives and Records Administration for refusing to release information about how former President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney tried to shape public opinion during their time in office. John Cook, a reporter for Gawker Media, made modest requests, which the government rejected. He did not seek government records, but records of who sought records.”
http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/12/01/41846.htm
Cablegate One Year Later: How WikiLeaks Has Influenced Foreign Policy, Journalism, and the First Amendment
“One year ago today, WikiLeaks started publishing a trove of over 250,000 leaked U.S. State Department cables, which have since formed the basis of reporting for newspapers around the globe. The publication has given the public a window into the inner workings of government at an unprecedented scale, and in the process, has transformed journalism in the digital age. In recognition, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was just awarded Australia’s version of the Pulitzer Prize, in addition to the Martha Gellhorn journalism prize he won in the United Kingdom earlier this year. As Salon’s Glenn Greenwald observed, “WikiLeaks easily produced more newsworthy scoops over the last year than every other media outlet combined.” Yet at the same time, the Justice Department has been investigating WikiLeaks for criminal violations for doing what other media organizations have been doing in the U.S. for centuries—publishing truthful information in the public interest. Here is a look at Cablegate’s impact on journalism surrounding six countries central to U.S. foreign policy, and why it is vital for the media to stand up for WikiLeaks’ First Amendment right to publish classified information.”
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/11/cablegate-one-year-later-how-wikileaks-has-influenced-foreign-policy-journalism
Public Policy
Obama wants better digital archive of federal records
“The process of archiving government data, decisions and deliberations is set for a major overhaul. President Obama on Monday ordered agencies to make wider use of digital-based record-keeping systems in what aides promise will be the most significant change to government archiving since Harry S. Truman’s presidency.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/post/obama-wants-better-digital-archive-of-federal-records/2011/11/03/gIQAXJeA4N_blog.html
White House blog – We Can’t Wait: Bringing Records Management into the Twenty-First Century
NARA Press Release
Digital History
The Digital Public Library of America Program on WAMU Public Radio
“It’s something of a dream for many: to digitize and make accessible the vast number of books, documents, artifacts, photos, videos, and other materials housed at thousands of different institutions across the country. The Digital Public Library of America is working on making it a reality. We explore a collaboration between libraries, museums, and archives – including the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian – that aims to put it all online.”
http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2011-12-01/digital-public-library-america
Tennessee State Library and Archives painstakingly saves old state Supreme Court records
“Wearing a heavy apron and armed with scissors, a brush, a sponge, pliers and a magnifying glass, Todd Wallwork huddles over a table in the basement of the Tennessee State Library and Archives and tends to a seemingly endless flow of Tennessee court records dating back more than two centuries. Delicate work with fragile, largely handwritten documents isn’t what Wallwork had in mind when he accepted a position as a digital materials librarian, but such is the importance of the library and archives’ efforts to preserve 10,000 boxes of Supreme Court cases from the state’s birth to the 1950s. Wallwork is one of about 20 employees who devote four hours a week to the project.”
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20111129/NEWS01/311290030/Tennessee-Archives-preservation-project-protects-tapestry-life-
Intellectual Property Issues
EU law precludes the imposition of an injunction by a national court which requires an internet service provider to install a filtering system with a view to preventing the illegal downloading of files
“Such an injunction does not comply with the prohibition on imposing a general monitoring obligation on such a provider, or with the requirement to strike a fair balance between, on the one hand, the right to intellectual property, and, on the other, the freedom to conduct business, the right to protection of personal data and the freedom to receive or impart information.”
http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2011-11/cp110126en.pdf
ECJ Judgment – http://curia.europa.eu/jurisp/cgi-bin/form.pl?lang=EN&Submit=rechercher&numaff=C-70/10
EFF Seeks to Widen Exemptions Won in Last DMCA Rulemaking
“The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged the U.S. Copyright Office today to renew and expand the critical exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) granted last year in response to EFF’s requests to protect the rights of American consumers who modify electronic gadgets and make remix videos.”
https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-seeks-widen-exemptions-won-last-dmca-rulemaking
When Even The Librarians Are Against SOPA…
“Supporters of SOPA keep trying to pretend that the only people who could possibly be against the bill are those who profit from infringement. That’s crazy. The concern here has nothing to do with infringement, but how SOPA is ridiculously overbroad, and will create massive problems and liability for activities that most people consider perfectly reasonable and legal. I’d love to see how the defenders of SOPA try to tar and feather the American Library Association, the Association of Research Libraries and the Association of College & Research Libraries who have written a letter warning about SOPA, with particular concern on the new “felony streaming” parts of the bill — the ones that backers don’t fully understand themselves. The libraries highlight two key concerns.”
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111110/00563216705/when-even-librarians-are-against-sopa.shtml
SOPA on the ropes? Bipartisan alternative to ‘Net censorship emerges
“The Senate’s PROTECT IP Act and the House’s Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) are so noxious that even the Business Software Alliance has serious reservations, and SOPA’s main backer had to take to the virtual pages of National Review today to quell a growing revolt among his conservative colleagues about “regulating the Internet.” Whatever you think of the legislation, it unquestionably represents a sea change in the US approach to the Internet, one which explicitly contemplates widespread website blocking and search engine de-listing. . . One promising alternative was unveiled today by a bipartisan group of 10 senators and representatives. It ditches the “law and order” approach to piracy and replaces it with a more limited, trade-based system. And the legislators behind it have put out a draft of the idea for public comment before they even begin drawing up actual legislation.”
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/12/sopa-on-the-ropes-bipartisan-alternative-to-net-censorship-emerges.ars
Privacy Concerns
Cyber Intelligence Bill Threatens Privacy and Civilian Control
“A bill unveiled yesterday by Reps. Mike Rogers (R-MI) and C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger (D-MD), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee, would authorize Internet service providers and other companies to share customer communications and other personally identifiable information with governmental agencies. The intent of the bill is to enhance information sharing for cybersecurity purposes, a goal that CDT strongly supports. However, we have four main concerns with the specifics of the Rogers-Ruppersberger bill”
http://www.cdt.org/blogs/greg-nojeim/112cyber-intelligence-bill-threatens-privacy-and-civilian-control
International Outlook
Croatian Transparency Activist Marko Rakar Making Waves Again
“Two days ago, Marko Rakar, Croatia’s leading transparency activist (and frequent PdF conference speaker), made front-page news there with a massive new data release: All the public procurement data for government spending since July 1, 2009, in easily searchable form. It’s being called the “Croatian WikiLeaks.” In all, there are about 58,000 individual contracts totally 80 billion Croatian kuna (or about $15-$16 billion) covering more than 13,000 companies in the database, which allows you to see which agency ordered what goods and services, and who received each contract. A search by contractors shows their overall procurement record (how many contracts, what type of contract, what amount of money is involved and to whom was sold goods and services). The database, which is modeled on FedSpending.gov but in some ways more detailed, also allows a user to see how dependent a company is on government contracts. This information was theoretically already available on official government websites, but it was essentially useless.”
http://techpresident.com/blog-entry/croatian-transparency-activist-marko-rakar-making-waves-again
Canadian libraries thriving in ebook era
“It’s a sunny fall afternoon — likely one of the last warm days this year — yet Montreal’s largest library is buzzing. The Grande Bibliotheque’s rows of sofa chairs and sleek desks are packed with people tapping on laptops, flipping through magazines, and yes, even reading books. Despite the rise of smart phones and ebook readers, many Canadian libraries are busier than ever. And the renaissance may be due in part to the very technology that was expected to threaten their existence. Across the country, library usage is up 45 per cent over the past decade, from 16.6 to 24.1 transactions on average per capita, according to a recent report prepared by Lumos Research for the Canadian Urban Libraries Council. Much of that growth has been driven by digital information.”
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20111127/canadian-library-use-rising-in-ebook-era-111127/
Government and Drug Cartels Both Threaten Freedom of Expression in Mexico
“Freedom of expression continues to come under attack in Mexico. This week, Mexican President Felipe Calderon announced that his government is exploring “all options to proceed legally against those who have denounced the government in international forums and in the courts.” This announcement came in response to a complaint filed by Mexican activists and signed by over 23,000 Mexicans, in International Criminal Court last week, demanding that the court investigate alleged human rights violations by the army and the police as part of the state’s war against the drug cartels. Reports indicate that the Calderon government is considering legal action not just against Netzei Sandaval, the human rights attorney who filed the complaint with the ICC in the Hague, but also against the 23,000 individuals who signed their names to the petition online. This is deeply troubling, as it could result in a profoundly chilling effect on political speech in Mexico.”
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/11/government-and-drug-cartels-both-threaten-freedom-expression-mexico
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The Intersect Alert is a newsletter of the Government Relations Committee, San Francisco Bay Region Chapter, Special Libraries Association.
