Freedom of Information

Major Library Associations Thank Committee on House Administration for Rejecting NAPA Suggestion to Charge for FDsys
“The five major library associations – AALL, American Library Association, Association of Research Libraries, Medical Library Association and Special Libraries Association — joined  together this week to thank the Committee on House Administration for opposing the suggestion in the National Academy of Public  Administration’s (NAPA) report, “Rebooting the Government Printing Office: Keeping America Informed in the Digital Age,” that GPO charge public user fees for FDsys.”
http://aallwash.wordpress.com/2013/05/30/major-library-associations-thank-committee-on-house-administration-for-rejecting-napa-suggestion-to-charge-for-fdsys/

The Declassification Engine: Your One-Stop Shop for Government Secrets
“. . . “The state of the declassified archives is really stuck in the middle of the 20th Century,” says Aftergood. He calls it a “fairly dismal picture,” but he also says there’s an enormous opportunity to improve the way we research declassified materials — and improve it very quickly — through the use of modern technology. That’s the aim of a new project launched by a team of historians, mathematicians, and computer scientists at Columbia University in New York City. Led by Matthew Connelly — a Columbia professor trained in diplomatic history — the project is known as The Declassification Engine, and it seeks to provide a single online database for declassified documents from across the federal government, including the CIA, the State Department, and potentially any other agency.”
http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/05/the-declassification-engine/

Calif. to post raw campaign filings online daily
“California Secretary of State Debra Bowen has agreed to expand the way her office presents campaign finance data online after initially rejecting the request from a coalition of good-government groups, research organizations and newspapers, her spokeswoman said Tuesday.  The Secretary of State’s Office will make California’s entire campaign finance and lobbying database, known as Cal-Access, available for download on one spreadsheet daily by Labor Day. Currently, the secretary of state’s office creates CD-ROMs upon request and sends them by mail for $5, or the public has to search online by each candidate, group or committee.”
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_23291664/calif-post-raw-campaign-filings-online-daily

Intellectual Property

Treaty for the Blind in Jeopardy, Copyright Zealots to Blame
“In a few weeks, the 186 governments that are members of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) will gather in Morocco with the goal of crafting a Treaty For The Blind.  The agreement would facilitate global production and lending of audio books, Braille translations, and otherwise enable the visually impaired and those with certain learning disabilities to have affordable access to books. This will most benefit the millions of blind people in the developing world who live in poverty, by adopting many of the rights to translate works into braille or other forms accessible to the visually impaired that are already law in the United States. But last minute lobbying by Hollywood and publishing interests in the U.S. and Europe have threatened to derail the Treaty for the Blind at the last minute.”
http://www.publicknowledge.org/blog/treaty-blind-jeopardy-copyright-zealots-blame

Please feel free to pass along in part or in its entirety.

The Intersect Alert is a newsletter of the Government Relations Committee, San Francisco Bay Region Chapter, Special Libraries Association.

Freedom of Information

Data.gov embraces open source data management
“As part of a series of major upgrades, Data.gov today moved to a new data catalog based on an open source data management system, the Comprehensive Knowledge Archive Network – better known as CKAN. The new data catalog is a key component of the Data.gov 2.0 coming in the next few months. Users visiting the new data catalog will notice the improved search function, which now allows the user to find all datasets for a particular location, better sorting and tagging of datasets and improved metadata.”
http://fedscoop.com/data-gov-embraces-open-source-data-management/ http://www.data.gov/

DATA bill introduced
“A bill to change the way federal government spending data is reported was formally introduced in the House and the Senate on May 21. The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act establishes standards for federal spending data published to the USASpending.gov portal, and requires agencies to report internal spending in addition to awards, grants, and contracts. The House version was quickly and unanimously approved on May 22 by the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, where it has the strong backing of committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.). Passage in the full House is widely expected. The Senate companion measure was introduced by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Vir.) and Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio).”
http://fcw.com/articles/2013/05/22/data-act.aspx

Committee on House Administration Supports Public’s Right to Gov’t Docs
“The influential Committee on House Administration released a letter yesterday that endorsed the principle that “the documents of our democracy should be available to all Americans electronically, in perpetuity, and for free.” The letter, signed by every member of the committee, rejected a recommendation made in a flawed report issued by the National Academy of Public Administration, which had called for the Government Printing Office to consider charging “end uses” for online access to government documents made available through the online portal FDsys.”
http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2013/05/23/committee-on-house-administration-supports-publics-right-to-govt-docs/

House Administration Rejects NAPA Recommendation to Charge Public for Access to Legislative Documents
“Today, House Administration Chairman Candice Miller, R-Mich., and Ranking Member Robert Brady, D-Pa., issued the following statement after the full Committee sent a letter to the Acting Public Printer of the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) rejecting a recent recommendation by the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) to charge the public for access to GPO’s congressional documents.”
http://cha.house.gov/press-release/house-administration-rejects-napa-recommendation-charge-public-access-legislative

Open Access

Illinois State Senator Biss’ open access legislation passes House
“Legislation State Senator Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) sponsored to work toward making state universities’ taxpayer-funded research available to the public passed the House today by a vote of 98-16. Senate Bill 1900, which will require each public university to convene an open access task force, now awaits the governor’s signature.”
http://www.illinoissenatedemocrats.com/index.php/sen-biss-home/3420-biss-open-access-legislation-passes-house

Don’t Believe the Publishers’ Hype: Support Open Access
“Once again, we are seeing entrenched interests try to fight the future with scare tactics and misinformation. This time, it’s major journal publishers, and their target is open access to taxpayer-funded research.”
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/05/dont-believe-publishers-hype-support-open-access

Intellectual Property

Obama Stops Championing Treaty That Gives the Blind Better Access to E-Books
“The Obama administration went on record four years ago supporting a proposed international treaty to make books more accessible to the blind. But as world leaders prepare to gather in Morocco next month to finalize a deal that Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay proposed in 2009, the administration is mum on whether it supports a treaty that would, for the first time, loosen copyright restrictions. Many fear lobbying by Hollywood and dozens of the world’s largest corporations, including ExxonMobil, may scuttle the treaty altogether.”
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/05/ip-blind-treaty/

International Outlook

Her Majesty’s Government Wants to Monetize Open Data
“A new paper from the chair of the U.K. government’s Open Strategy Board outlines the best practices for the government’s open data policies. The government-commissioned Shakespeare Review – after author Stephan Shakespeare – looks into ways to monetize open data, and recommends an all-encompassing National Data Strategy. According to Shakespeare, CEO of YouGov and chair of the Open Strategy Board, the U.K. leads the world in making government data public. However, his report cautions the government against releasing data willy-nilly if they want to capitalize on the open data market (which the report finds could generate £2 billion ($3 billion) in the short term and £6 – 7 billion ($9 – 10.6 billion) later on. Many of his suggestions are aimed at simply streamlining the open data: designating leadership for the initiative, ensuring that what is said will be done is done, and releasing rough data quickly and refined and verified data in a second, higher quality data set. The Open Rights Group took issue with some of Shakespeare’s provisions for privacy and transparency. They found the “exclusive focus on economic growth, against transparency and accountability” troubling.”
http://techpresident.com/news/23901/making-bank-open-data-uk

Please feel free to pass along in part or in its entirety.

The Intersect Alert is a newsletter of the Government Relations Committee, San Francisco Bay Region Chapter, Special Libraries Association.

Freedom of Information

Seeing Like a Citizen: How Activists Are Making State Laws Legible
“The Open Government Foundation announced Friday that it had released MarylandCode.org, a web-friendly and restriction free publication of the Maryland Code of Public Laws. Prior to the new website, state law was only available in PDF documents on the Maryland Legislature website and through Lexis Nexis. Anyone trying to access the laws through Lexis Nexis has to agree to an almost 5,000 word Terms of Service agreement, and the laws published through the service are subject to copyright restrictions, according to the press release.  The new platform makes the legal code available to developers through an API and in XML format published on GitHub. For regular users, the website, built with free, open-source software, offers the legal code in what the Open Government Foundation calls a searchable, user-friendly format. In addition, users are invited to share their ideas for projects or improvements building and expanding on the provided legal code.”
http://techpresident.com/news/23867/new-web-platform-publishes-maryland-code-public-laws http://marylandcode.org/

DATA Act discussion draft emerges
“Close to a week after the White House unveiled its open data policy, a congressman has released a new discussion draft of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2013, which would unlock and standardize federal spending data. Released by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the new document is the culmination of months-long discussions between Issa and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.). The two are expected to soon formally reintroduce the bill, according to the Data Transparency Coalition.”
http://fedscoop.com/data-act-discussion-draft-emerges/

Public Policy

Subpoena of AP Phone Records Said to Damage Press Freedom
“The government seizure of Associated Press telephone records in the course of a leak investigation undermined freedom of the press in the United States, congressional critics said yesterday.”
http://blogs.fas.org/secrecy/2013/05/ap-phone-records/

Intellectual Property

German online copyright law to take effect in August
“A German online copyright law that will give publishers the exclusive right to the commercial use of their publications on the Internet will come into effect on Aug. 1. The law was published in Germany’s Federal Law Gazette (Bundesgesetzblatt) on Tuesday. After a law is published in the gazette, it will come into effect, a spokeswoman said. The new rule is a toned down version of a controversial online copyright bill that aimed to give publishers the right to charge search engines like Google for republishing short text snippets of the kind used in Google News. The law as published does not extend to news snippets though. It states that publishers have the exclusive right to commercialize their products or parts thereof, except in the case of single words or very small text snippets. This change has made the impact of the new law on search engines and publishers unclear.”
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2038881/german-online-copyright-law-to-take-effect-in-august.html

Please feel free to pass along in part or in its entirety.

The Intersect Alert is a newsletter of the Government Relations Committee, San Francisco Bay Region Chapter, Special Libraries Association.

Freedom of Information

New Executive Order will increase government transparency
The White House has issued a new Executive Order (EO 13642) making open and machine readable the new default for government information and a memo, Open Data Policy – Managing information as an asset.  These documents provide a new set of guidelines for government agencies that will help to ensure a more open and accessible government. “This Memorandum establishes a framework to help institutionalize the principles of effective information management at each stage of the information’s life cycle to promote interoperability and openness.”
http://www.districtdispatch.org/2013/05/new-executive-order-will-increase-government-transparency/

Internet Access

ALA Highlights Benefits of Federal Broadband Funding, Argues that E-Rate Must Be Enhanced to Sustain Progress
“The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s $4 billion Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) has helped about 20 percent of U.S. libraries make improvements to publicly available technology resources and digital literacy within their communities, according to a report released on Monday by the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP).”
http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2013/05/digital-divide/ala-highlights-benefits-of-federal-broadband-funding-argues-that-e-rate-must-be-enhanced-to-sustain-progress/

Intellectual Property

New Bipartisan Bill Proposes Real Fixes to Bad Copyright Law
“A new bill introduced in Congress today aims to resolve the restrictions that complicate phone unlocking, and it’s doing it the right way. While other proposals would apply temporary “bandaid” fixes that fail to address the underlying problems behind the restrictions, this bi-partisan proposal from Representatives Zoe Lofgren, Thomas Massie, Anna Eshoo, and Jared Polis, gets to the root of the issue.”
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/05/new-bipartisan-bill-proposes-real-fixes-bad-copyright-law
H.R. 1892, the Unlocking Technology Act of 2013

Google, Authors Guild Back in Court
“After a nearly eight-month delay, lawyers for Google and the Authors Guild were back in court this morning. In oral arguments scheduled before a panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Google was set to argue that Judge Denny Chin’s 2012 order granting the Authors Guild’s motion for class certification should be reversed. The long-running case over Google’s library book scanning has been stayed since September, 2012, pending the Second Circuit’s review of Chin’s decision.”
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/57146-google-authors-guild-back-in-court.html

LCA Submits Comments Regarding the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIF)
“LCA welcomes this opportunity to comment on the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). LCA has long been engaged in trade matters, submitting comments on many of the free trade agreements, TPP, and GATS. At this preliminary stage, we offer a few brief recommendations.”
http://www.librarycopyrightalliance.org/bm~doc/lca-ttip-comments-final-10may13.pdf

New Research Report from the National Research Council
“Copyright in the Digital Era: Building Evidence for Policy examines a range of questions regarding copyright policy by using a variety of methods, such as case studies, international and sectoral comparisons, and experiments and surveys. This report is especially critical in light of digital age developments that may, for example, change the incentive calculus for various actors in the copyright system, impact the costs of voluntary copyright transactions, pose new enforcement challenges, and change the optimal balance between copyright protection and exceptions.”
https://download.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=14686

International Outlook

A Battle For Open Public Data In South Africa
“Amid growing calls for the controversial Protection of State Information bill to be referred to the Constitutional Court of South Africa, open data activists are fighting a separate but related battle for government to release its data to the public.  Critics of the bill, popularly referred to as the secrecy bill, fear it will be used to persecute whistleblowers and stifle press freedom. The bill was passed by a majority vote in Parliament on 25 April and now needs to be signed by President Jacob Zuma in order for it to become law.  It is against this backdrop and the debate about information control that data activists are turning up the volume on their demands for government and publicly funded institutions to release data. Activists and others argue that to do so will increase transparency and is the impetus for building free and commercial information products that can aid decision-making.”
http://www.ip-watch.org/2013/05/08/a-battle-for-open-public-data-in-south-africa/

Syrian Internet Goes Dark, Leaving Questions and Uncertainty
“Earlier today, we learned that Internet traffic between Syria and Western online services had plummeted drastically, indicated that the country’s connection to the wider Internet had been shut down. Reports from Renesys and Google confirmed the routes into Syria had been withdrawn, implying either a massive infrastructure cut, or a deliberate silencing of online communication.  The details of the situation in Syria are still unknown, but we’re deeply concerned that this blackout is a deliberate attempt to silence Syria’s online communications and further draw a curtain over grave events currently unfolding on the ground in Syria.”
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/05/syrian-internet-goes-dark-leaving-questions-and-uncertainty-0

Please feel free to pass along in part or in its entirety.

The Intersect Alert is a newsletter of the Government Relations Committee, San Francisco Bay Region Chapter, Special Libraries Association.

Freedom of Information

Justices say states can limit access to public records
“The Supreme Court on Monday said states are free to allow public records access only to their own citizens, delivering a blow to freedom of information advocates who had challenged a Virginia law. In a unanimous ruling, the court said two out-of-state men did not have a right to view the documents. Various other states, including Tennessee, Arkansas and Delaware, have similar laws, although some do not enforce them.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/29/us-usa-court-records-idUSBRE93S0N420130429

Supreme Court FOI Decision Foolish and Shortsighted
“Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Virginia law that generally prohibits non-Virginians from making use of its Freedom of Information law. As part of its decision in McBurney v. Young, the Court held that the Constitution’s Article IV “Privileges and Immunities” clause does not extend to a non-Virginian’s right to access public information on equal terms with Virginia citizens.”
http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2013/04/30/supreme-court-foi-decision-foolish-and-shortsighted/

Support for the PIDB’s Recommendations Continues to Grow
“The Public Interest Declassification Board received recognition at a recent academic conference titled The Legal and Civil Policy Implications of “Leaks” at the American University Washington College of Law.  A panel focusing on the legislative response to “leaks” discussed what impact over-classification and the current state of the security classification system have on the prevalence of leaks.”
http://blogs.archives.gov/transformingclassification/?p=467

USAID releases open data tools to increase government openness
“The U.S. Agency for International Development announced April 29 the launch of a plethora of new datasets and tools to increase transparency. The unveiling took place at the G-8 Conference on Open Data for Agriculture in Washington, D.C., and brought together G-8 countries and the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition to discuss open data for agriculture and to create action plans for food security datasets.”
http://fedscoop.com/usaid-releases-open-data-tools-to-increase-government-openness/

Public Policy

As Works Flood In, Nation’s Library Treads Water
“The Sea Creatures, who recently sent their recording “Naked in the Rain” to the Library of Congress, probably did not ponder the impact of sequestration on their music’s journey from dream to copyright. Just as military contractors, air traffic controllers and federal workers are coping with the grim results of a partisan impasse over the federal deficit, the Library of Congress, whose services range from copyrighting written works — whether famous novels or poems scribbled on napkins — to the collection, preservation and digitalization of millions of books, photographs, maps and other materials, faces deep cuts that threaten its historic mission.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/04/books/budget-cuts-hobble-library-of-congress.html?_r=0

2013 World Press Freedom Index: Dashed hopes after spring
“After the “Arab springs” and other protest movements that prompted many rises and falls in last year’s index, the 2013 Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index marks a return to a more usual configuration. The ranking of most countries is no longer attributable to dramatic political developments. This year’s index is a better reflection of the attitudes and intentions of governments towards media freedom in the medium or long term.”
http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2013,1054.html

Digital History

Are digitization and budget cuts compromising history?
“”When people say everything’s online,” says Jerry Dupont of the Law Library Microform Consortium, “they’re woefully uninformed.” Dupont, founder of the LLMC, a nonprofit law library cooperative, estimates that of the 2 million unique volumes contained in America’s law libraries, only about 15 percent are available in digital form. That figure includes access via proprietary, commercial services like Westlaw and LexisNexis. Across the country, law libraries are trying to adapt to the digital revolution and preserve historic and precedential documents. But budget cuts have hit hard at academic law libraries, which historically have hosted some of the most robust legal collections. And the pressures are creating concerns that the public will lose access to essential legal documents.”
http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/are_digitization_and_budget_cuts_compromising_history

Open Access

Open Access Spreads
“A bill in the California legislature would require state-funded research to be made public free of charge within a year of its publication. If it passes, the bill would create an open access policy for California’s state-funded research similar to a policy announced earlier this year by the Obama administration. The federal policy, which is not yet finalized, would apply to most federally supported non-defense research. California is not the only state moving to make public the published research it helps to fund; Illinois is weighing a similar proposal.”
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/04/29/california-weighs-its-own-open-access-plan

Please feel free to pass along in part or in its entirety.

The Intersect Alert is a newsletter of the Government Relations Committee, San Francisco Bay Region Chapter, Special Libraries Association.

Freedom of Information

US government sends itself a takedown notice

As you may know, works of the U.S. Government are not protected by copyright in the U.S. (17 USC §105), but we often discover copyrighted government publications that one would reasonably think would be in the public domain and, more recently, we see works that were treated as public domain in print suddenly being treated as copyrighted when they are converted to digital. No matter how clear the law is, this can lead to confusing situations.
http://freegovinfo.info/node/3920

Open access: four ways it could enhance academic freedom

The power of funding alone should not be enough to override academic freedom, argues Curt Rice, nor does open access automatically skew the world of scholarship
http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/blog/2013/apr/22/open-access-academic-freedom-publishing

Order and Liberty: The DPLA Launches

I wasn’t entirely sure what the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) would look like when the long-awaited launch date of April 18 approached. The suspense is finally over: it looks great.
The DPLA is an effort to unify access to cultural assets of the nation and make them free to all. We are not the first country to try this; in fact we’re a bit behind, perhaps because we have a tradition of local library planning and support and because we don’t have a true national library.
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/library-babel-fish/order-and-liberty-dpla-launches#ixzz2SBtsGG8R

Owner, new CEO of Powell’s Books see strength in brick and mortar

It’s tough to think about how people will read in 50 years when you’re worrying about what they’ll read tomorrow. So after just a couple of years as chief executive of Powell’s Books, Emily Powell — granddaughter of the bookseller’s founder — told employees last month she would step down and focus on the Portland company’s long-term strategy in a quickly changing market.
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2013/04/owner_new_ceo_of_powells_books.html

Public Policy

3D-printed guns are inevitable

NEW YORK–For months, a debate has raged in the media and on Capitol Hill about whether or not society (and the law) should allow 3D-printed guns. After listening to Cody Wilson speak for a few minutes, one can’t help but come away feeling that the national discussion is moot: 3D-printed firearms are inevitable.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57581053-76/3d-printed-guns-are-inevitable/

Privacy Concerns

The Dark Side of the Digital Revolution

How do you explain to people that they are a YouTube sensation, when they have never heard of YouTube or the Internet? That’s a question we faced during our January visit to North Korea, when we attempted to engage with the Pyongyang traffic police. You may have seen videos on the Web of the capital city’s “traffic cops,” whose ballerina-like street rituals, featured in government propaganda videos, have made them famous online.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324030704578424650479285218

Feds Push for Backdoor Wiretap Capabilities

Washington – The Washington Post reported today that the FBI is seeking authority to require surveillance backdoors in all popular Internet products and services.
“A wiretapping mandate is a vulnerability mandate,” said CDT Senior Staff Technologist Joe Hall. “The unintended consequences of this proposal are profound. At the very time when the nation is concerned about cybersecurity, the FBI proposal has the potential to make our communications less secure. Once you build a wiretap capability into products and services, the bad guys will find a way to use it.”
https://www.cdt.org/pr_statement/feds-push-backdoor-wiretap-capabilities

Intellectual Property

Human genome: US Supreme Court hears patents case

The US Supreme Court has heard arguments questioning whether the human genome can be claimed as intellectual property. The case relates to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in 2009, and centres on whether companies should be able to patent genes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22157410

International Outlook

World Book Night 2013: half a million free books to be handed out

20,000 volunteers will hand out half a million books tonight as part of World Book Night 2013. The event, now in its third year, aims to promote literacy and share the joy of books with people who might not normally read.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10011224/World-Book-Night-2013-half-a-million-free-books-to-be-handed-out.html

Please feel free to pass along in part or in its entirety.

The Intersect Alert is a newsletter of the Government Relations Committee, San Francisco Bay Region Chapter, Special Libraries Association.

Freedom of Information

Debate Continues Over Enhanced, Interactive eBooks

“Last week, The Guardian ran an article about the introduction of “next generation” ebooks at this year’s London Book Fair. Publisher Faber&Faber unveiled an updated, gaming-style edition of John Buchan’s The 39 Steps, created with the help of The Story Mechanics, with enhancements like hand-created digital visuals of turn-of-the-century Great Britain, stop-frame animation, and the ability to unlock achievements throughout the book

http://www.librarystuff.net/2013/04/22/debate-continues-over-enhanced-interactive-ebooks/

Public Libraries, Corporate Publishers and

“Last week Simon & Schuster signed a deal with 3M and the NYPL to distribute eBooks into libraries. Now all of the “Big6? corporate publishers have some type of agreement selling eBooks into public libraries. Libraries are indispensable. Publishers agree on this. Eventually the business models will all align and every publisher will make available their entire list of digital to libraries.”

http://www.librarystuff.net/2013/04/19/public-libraries-corporate-publishers-and-ebooks/

Public Policy

Hill’s newest earmarks: Sequester exemptions

Sequestration exemptions are shaping up to be Washington’s newest version of earmarks.  Agencies, companies and other groups are on the hunt for Capitol Hill allies with the juice to save their pet issues from the full force of the across-the-board cuts. Some have already been successful.

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/hills-newest-earmarks-sequester-exemptions-90470.html#ixzz2RVik3qAZ

Senate energy committee gives Ernest Moniz thumbs-up

Massachusetts Institute of Technology physics professor Ernest Moniz has emerged as the anti-Chuck Hagel, easily passing his first Senate test and even winning support from conservative Republicans.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted 21-1 Thursday morning to approve Moniz’s nomination for energy secretary.

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/senate-energy-committee-gives-moniz-thumbs-up-90303.html#ixzz2RVjNute9

Harry Reid wants online sales tax on Senate floor

Majority Leader Harry Reid began the process late Tuesday that would allow the bill, known as the Marketplace Fairness Act, to come before the full chamber without first going through the Senate Finance Committee — whose leaders largely dislike the proposal.

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/harry-reid-wants-online-sales-tax-on-senate-floor-90233.html#ixzz2RVk0jtrG

 Privacy Concerns

Chuck Grassley eyes former aide in Medicare Advantage leak

A Washington law firm and a former congressional aide are facing scrutiny over a leak of sensitive details on Medicare Advantage payment rates that may have sparked hundreds of millions of dollars in stock trading on insurance companies before the information was made public.

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/grassley-eyes-former-aides-role-in-market-intelligence-90197.html

 House Passes CISPAfrom Center for Democracy & Technology – Keeping the Internet Open, Innovative and Free

Washington — Today, the House of Representatives passed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA). Although the bill was improved before final passage, it remains fundamentally flawed. CDT reaffirms it opposition to the bill.

https://www.cdt.org/pr_statement/house-passes-cispa

Note to Full Text Reports followers — Grab It When You See It!

Our friends Gary Price and Shirl Kennedy over at Full Text Reports have a handy reminder today:

…some of the papers and reports posted on FullTextReports.com are freely available online for just a limited time before they disappear behind a paywall (or go away entirely). If you see something you suspect might be useful to you (or a colleague) in the future, download it the day you see it because it may not be accessible later without a subscription (or it may have been moved or taken offline).

Just another reason to remember that libraries should be collecting, not pointing.

http://freegovinfo.info/node/3918

Leaked E-mails Show the State Department’s Top Watchdog May Lack Independence

The independence of the de facto State Department Inspector General (IG), Ambassador Harold Geisel, is in question due to information obtained by POGO, including several troubling State Department e-mails. For instance, POGO has learned that Geisel has recused himself from a State Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation involving Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy and a company called Aurora, LLC. Geisel’s recusal is due to a perceived conflict of interest between him and Kennedy. Kennedy is in charge of State’s day-to-day operations.

http://pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net/pogo-files/alerts/government-oversight/go-ig-20101118.html

Intellectual Property

 International Outlook

Australian census made both easier and more difficult to freely access

Here’s a reminder that we all have to be constantly diligent to make sure govt information continues to be freely available for the long term!  Australian Census Data Released Under CC License, But Official Site Tries To Make It Hard To Download.

http://freegovinfo.info/node/3919

Please feel free to pass along in part or in its entirety.

The Intersect Alert is a newsletter of the Government Relations Committee, San Francisco Bay Region Chapter, Special Libraries Association.

Freedom of Information

Wikileaks opens Public Library of US Diplomacy (PLUSD) with large cache of 1970s US diplomatic and intel documents

Wikileaks today announced the launch of the Public Library of US Diplomacy (PlusD), a searchable database with the release of Special Project K: the Kissinger cables — ostensibly, PlusD will include other records in the future. WikiLeaks has published more than 1.7 million U.S. diplomatic records — including cables from previously released Cablegate cables, intelligence reports, and congressional correspondence — from January 1, 1973 to December 31, 1976, the period during which Henry Kissinger was secretary of state and national security advisor. The documents were formerly confidential, classified, or labeled “NODIS” (“no distribution”) or “Eyes Only”.
http://freegovinfo.info/node/3908

Reading, Writing and Video Games

WHEN I was a child, I liked to play video games. On my brother’s Atari, I played Night Driver. On his Apple II, I played Microwave, Aztec and Taipan! When I got to go to the arcade, I played Asteroids and Space Invaders.

Here’s what I learned: At a certain level on Microwave, the music from the bar scene in Star Wars comes on. If I am at the front line when aliens descend to Earth, we’ll all be in trouble. Also, dealing opium in the South China Sea is more lucrative than trading in commodities.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/sunday-review/reading-writing-and-video-games.html?_r=0

Public Policy

Library collects food instead of fines

T.B. Scott Free Library will celebrate National Library Week, April 14 to 20, with food, programs and an opportunity to give back to the community.  For the 14th consecutive year, library patrons are encouraged to settle their overdue fines and, at the same time, help others in need through the Food For Fines program.
http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20130412/WDH1010/304120014/Library-collects-food-instead-fines
Budget projects FHA bailout, draws criticism

The Obama administration’s announcement that a key housing program will most likely need a taxpayer bailout drew sharp criticism from House Republicans who are making the Federal Housing Administration a piñata this year in an effort to highlight their differences with Democrats over housing policy.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/budget-projects-fha-bailout-and-draws-criticism-89908.html

New Website for State Online Legal Information

The Digital Access to Legal Information Committee (DALIC) of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) has created a new website to host information about the status of online legal materials in every state with respect to authentication, official status, preservation, permanent public access, copyright, and universal citation.
http://freegovinfo.info/node/3910
OpenGov Champion Sandra Moscoso used open data to fund DC school librarians

Sunlight Foundation’s OpenGov Champion of the month is Sandra Moscoso. Sandra is a mom of two public school students in Washington DC, and a member of the Capitol Hill Public School Parent Organization (CHPSPO) — oh and she just happens to manage an open data portal at the World Bank’s financial sector.
http://freegovinfo.info/node/3909

Privacy Concerns

Cybersecurity: New version of old fight

Battling rogue hackers and digital spies — it’s precisely the sort of cutting-edge challenge that typically confounds Congress.

But the cybersecurity debate about to begin in the House this week is merely a more modern take on an old political fight: a classic lobbying battle set against the backdrop of a post-Sept. 11 struggle between privacy and security.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/security-vs-privacy-goes-cyber-in-post-911-world-90048.html
EPA nominee Gina McCarthy is grilled on email, transparency

Republican senators grilled EPA administrator-nominee Gina McCarthy over the agency’s recent email controversy on Thursday, asking her to commit to greater transparency at the already embattled agency.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/epa-nominee-is-grilled-on-email-transparency-89972.html
CISPA still missing the mark for Dems, White House

A bill to fortify U.S. cyberdefenses is returning to the House floor — and right back to the political scrum that enveloped it last time.

For backers of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, it all comes down — yet again — to convincing skeptics in Congress and the White House that the proposal won’t trample on Americans’ privacy.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/cispa-still-missing-the-mark-for-dems-white-house-89973.html
Intellectual Property

Elsevier: All your data belongs to us

A distinct sense of déjà vu kicked in Tuesday afternoon as I read a series of outraged tweets decrying the news that Elsevier, the giant publisher of scientific journals, was buying Mendeley, a cloud-based social media research platform popular with academics for such tasks as organizing citations and managing access to articles.
http://www.salon.com/2013/04/09/elsevier_all_your_data_belongs_to_us/
Scientific Articles Accepted (Personal Checks, Too)

The scientists who were recruited to appear at a conference called Entomology-2013 thought they had been selected to make a presentation to the leading professional association of scientists who study insects. But they found out the hard way that they were wrong. The prestigious, academically sanctioned conference they had in mind has a slightly different name: Entomology 2013 (without the hyphen). The one they had signed up for featured speakers who were recruited by e-mail, not vetted by leading academics.
hhttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/08/health/for-scientists-an-exploding-world-of-pseudo-academia.html</

International Outlook

Please feel free to pass along in part or in its entirety.

The Intersect Alert is a newsletter of the Government Relations Committee, San Francisco Bay Region Chapter, Special Libraries Association.

Freedom of Information

Sunshine Week in Review
“As Emily recently shared, last week marked the ninth annual Sunshine Week, a time to reflect on the state of public access to government information and work together to make our government more transparent. In addition to the release of two new reports to which AALL contributed, we were busy celebrating Sunshine Week at events across Washington, DC.  Read on for event recaps and a few exciting legislative developments.”
http://aallwash.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/sunshine-week-in-review/

NASA Technical Reports Database Goes Dark
“This week NASA abruptly took the massive NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) offline.  Though no explanation for the removal was offered, it appeared to be in response to concerns that export controlled information was contained in the collection. “Until further notice, the NTRS system will be unavailable for public access. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you and anticipate that this site will return to service in the near future,” the NTRS homepage now states. NASA Public Affairs did not respond yesterday to an inquiry about the status of the site, the reason for its suspension, or the timeline for its return.”
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2013/03/ntrs_dark.html

One Step Forward, One Step Missed: House Committee Approves Limited FOIA Improvements
“Yesterday, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform approved the FOIA Oversight and Implementation Act (H.R. 1211), sponsored by the committee’s chair and ranking member, Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Elijah Cummings (D-MD). The bill would take steps to improve agency compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and require agencies to post more public information online. However, more reforms will be needed to address fundamental flaws in the current FOIA system.”
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.113hr1211 http://www.foreffectivegov.org/one-step-forward-one-step-missed-house-committee-approves-limited-foia-improvements

Tester offers e-filing amendment to budget bill
“Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., has this evening introduced an amendment to the Senate budget bill that would require senators to electronically file campaign finance reports, the Center for Public Integrity has learned. The move comes a month after Tester re-introduced legislation toward the same goal. Senate campaign committees are the only federal political committees not required to file their financial disclosure reports electronically with the Federal Election Commission. As a result, it can take weeks, if not months, to get detailed information about who is bankrolling senators and Senate hopefuls.”
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/03/22/12377/tester-offers-e-filing-amendment-budget-bill

Congress Makes a Law and the Pentagon Redacts It
“National Security Archive staffers have seen all sorts of responses from U.S. government agencies, often routine, sometimes extraordinarily helpful, but once in a while absurd. A recent Pentagon mandatory declassification review action falls into the “absurd” category: Pentagon reviewers censored language from a U.S. public law and a unclassified report to Congress.”
http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/congress-makes-a-law-and-the-pentagon-redacts-it/

Intellectual Property

German Parliament Votes To Protect News Snippets From Republishing
“A controversial update to German copyright law providing for an auxiliary protection for tiny extracts from press articles has been finally passed by the German Upper House (“Bundesrat”). What has been characterised and campaigned against as a “lex Google” not only by Google, but also by Germany’s industry associations, journalist associations and activists alike shall prevent internet platforms from using publishers’ content without licensing (and payment) except for “single words” or “minimal extracts”.”
http://www.ip-watch.org/2013/03/22/german-parliament-votes-to-protect-news-snippets-from-republishing/

Copyright Office Calls for Major Reforms To Copyright Law
“Could the copyright policy debate be turning another significant corner? For years, the dominant focus of the debate has been enforcement of current law – essentially, a debate about how to catch, punish, and deter “pirates.” The fight over SOPA and PIPA started out as a stark example of the single-minded pursuit of copyright enforcement. It ended up, however, as a powerful demonstration that copyright law has a much wider circle of stakeholders than just rights holders and pirates. Now, Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante has issued a call for Congress to launch a fundamental review aimed at modernizing copyright law for the digital age. In a recent speech and congressional testimony yesterday, she suggests a broad agenda, including possible reforms aimed at challenges facing not just major copyright holders, but other stakeholders and the public as well. There’s no guarantee that Congress will heed the call, but it’s a potentially significant development.”
https://www.cdt.org/blogs/david-sohn/2103copyright-office-calls-major-reforms-copyright-law

Updating the Copyright Act? It’s up to all of us.
“On Wednesday, the head of the U.S. Copyright Office is going to testify to Congress and call for an update to U.S. copyright law. If Congress takes up the challenge, supporters of free expression and the promise of digital technology will have a great opportunity to forge a copyright law that reflects our fundamental values. Of course, a major reform of copyright law could lead the other way – back towards SOPA and beyond to a world of more centralization, censorship, and technology regulation.”
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/03/updating-copyright-act-its-up-to-all-of-us

Library Copyright Alliance Statement on Supreme Court Decision in Kirtsaeng v. Wiley—Total Victory for Libraries and Their Users
“Today the US Supreme Court announced its much-anticipated decision in Kirtsaeng v. Wiley, a lawsuit regarding the bedrock principle of the “first sale doctrine.” The 6-3 opinion is a total victory for libraries and our users. It vindicates the foundational principle of the first sale doctrine—if you bought it, you own it. All who believe in that principle, and the certainty it provides to libraries and many other parts of our culture and economy, should join us in applauding the Court for correcting the legal ambiguity that led to this case in the first place. It is especially gratifying that Justice Breyer’s majority opinion focused on the considerable harm that the Second Circuit’s opinion would have caused libraries.”
http://www.arl.org/news/pr/lca-statement-on-supreme-court-decision-kirtsaeng-v-wiley.shtml http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/11-697_d1o2.pdf

Privacy Issues

Victory for Transparency: Microsoft Releases Report on Law Enforcement Requests for User Data
“In January of this year, EFF was part of a coalition led and organized by Nadim Kobeissi that called for Microsoft to release publish a report on government requests for Skype user data. The letter pointed out that with 600 million users worldwide, Skype is effectively one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies. Many users rely on Skype for secure and private communications and for some of them—whether they’re activists working in states governed by authoritarian regimes or journalists communication with sensitive sources—the stakes are high. We are pleased to see that Microsoft has not only answered that letter on behalf of Skype, it has answered on behalf of the entire company.  Yesterday the company released its first transparency report, which covers all law enforcement requests and court orders received in 2012 related to all of their online and cloud services, including Hotmail/Outlook.com, SkyDrive, Microsoft Account, and Messenger.”
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/03/victory-transparency-microsoft-releases-report-law-enforcement-requests-user-data

Senate “Dream Team” Introduces ECPA Reform Bill
“Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) today introduced a bill that would reform the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). This Senate “Dream Team” will give ECPA reform a strong boost: Leahy, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and original author of the 1986 ECPA, is joining forces with Mike Lee, a Tea Party favorite, and a strong voice for Constitutional rights when the Committee marked up a nearly identical bill last year. The Leahy-Lee bill would amend ECPA to require government officials to obtain a warrant in order to require ISPs or other online service providers to disclose the private communications of their users (except, of course, in emergency cases).”
https://www.cdt.org/blogs/greg-nojeim/1903senate-dream-team-introduces-ecpa-reform-bill

Tell your Representative to Oppose CISPA
“The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) has been reintroduced in the House of Representatives (H.R. 624) and contains the same dangerous provisions that would allow companies to liberally share sensitive personal information with the government for purposes unrelated to cybersecurity and without meaningful oversight. Last year, CISPA passed the House of Representatives but was not taken up in the Senate. The White House threatened to veto CISPA in 2012. AALL has joined a coalition of groups dedicated to government openness and accountability to encourage Congress to oppose CISPA. Please write your Representative today and urge him/her to oppose CISPA, which would create a gaping new exemption to existing privacy law.”
http://aallwash.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/tell-your-representative-to-oppose-cispa/

International Outlook

From Canada – Federal librarians fear being ‘muzzled’ under new code of conduct that stresses ‘duty of loyalty’ to the government
“Federal librarians and archivists who set foot in classrooms, attend conferences or speak up at public meetings on their own time are engaging in “high risk” activities, according to the new code of conduct at Library and Archives Canada. Given the dangers, the code says the department’s staff must clear such “personal” activities with their managers in advance to ensure there are no conflicts or “other risks to LAC.” The code, which stresses federal employees’ “duty of loyalty” to the “duly elected government,” also spells out how offenders can be reported.”
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/03/15/library-and-archives-canada/

Library and Archives Canada Code of Conduct
“The Canadian Library Association urges Library and Archives Canada to revisit its Code of Conduct in order to strike a more even balance between the duty of loyalty to the Government of Canada that all public servants have and the freedom of expression that is imperative to the work of librarians in a strong democracy.”
http://www.cla.ca/AM/Template.cfm?Section=News1&CONTENTID=14028&TEMPLATE=%2FCM%2FContentDisplay.cfm

Please feel free to pass along in part or in its entirety.

The Intersect Alert is a newsletter of the Government Relations Committee, San Francisco Bay Region Chapter, Special Libraries Association.

Freedom of Information

Sunshine Week: In Celebration of Open Government
“As President Barack Obama has stated, “Openness will strengthen our democracy, and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.” This week, we celebrate Sunshine Week — an appropriate time to discuss the importance of open government and freedom of information, and to take stock of how far we have come, and think about what more can be done.”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/03/11/sunshine-week-celebration-open-government

Sunshine Week: A Round-up of EFF’s Year in Transparency
“This week, EFF once again joins a coalition of national and local transparency and press organizations in celebrating Sunshine Week as a way to bring attention to the importance of public records and the need to remain vigilant despite government push-back. Forty-seven years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) into law, giving the public the right to access records pertaining to government activities. Pronounced “foy-yah” by those who regularly employ it, the law serves as a sort of citizen subpoena process; if you ask for a record that doesn’t fall under a confidentiality exemption, the government has to produce it. Each day this week, EFF will be sharing details about our efforts to hold the government accountable using this crucial tool, including our successes and challenges. To kick it all off, here’s a breakdown of our greatest transparency hits since the last time Sunshine Week rolled around.”
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/03/sunshine-week-year-transparency

Open States: Transparency Report Card
“Today we’re making available our Transparency Report Card, a byproduct of the work we did in producing Open States. In the course of writing scrapers for all 50 state legislatures, our Open States team and volunteers spent a lot of time looking at state legislative websites and struggling with the often inadequate information made available.  Impossibly difficult to navigate sites, information going missing and gnarly PDFs of tabular data have become daily occurrences for those of us working on Open States. People are always curious to know how their state stacked up compared to others — in fact one of the most frequent questions we have been asked has been “so which state was the worst?”  That question got us thinking:  How could we derive a measure of how “open” a state’s legislative data was?”
http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2013/03/11/openstates-report-card/ http://openstates.org/reportcard/ http://openstates.org/

Governor Cuomo Launches Open.NY.Gov Providing Public Unprecedented User-Friendly Access to Federal, State and Local Data
“Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today launched “open.ny.gov,” a new and comprehensive state data transparency website that provides – for the first time – user-friendly, one-stop access to data from New York State agencies, localities, and the federal government. The website, featuring economic development, health, recreation, and public services information, was unveiled today during Sunshine Week, a nationwide initiative designed to raise awareness about the importance of open government.”
http://www.governor.ny.gov/press/03112013open-data http://open.ny.gov/

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): Background and Policy Options for the 113th Congress
“This report provides background on FOIA, discusses the categories of records FOIA exampts from public release, and analyzes statistics on FOIA administration. The report also provides background on severla legal and policy issues related to FOIA, including the release of controversial records, the growth in use of certain FOIA exemptions, and the adoption of new technologies to improve FOIA administration. The report concludes with an examination of potenital FOIA-related policy options for Congress.”
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/secrecy/R41933.pdf

Bipartisan Bill Aims to Beef Up FOIA Compliance
“The Republican and Democrat sitting atop Congress’ top watchdog panel unveiled joint proposed legislation Tuesday that would mandate a single online portal for all Freedom of Information Act requests across government. The 2013 FOIA Oversight and Implementation Act would direct officials to look closely at FOIA Online, a 5-month old joint FOIA Portal for the Commerce Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and a handful of other agencies. It would leave the door open for the governmentwide FOIA system to be built elsewhere, though, according to a press release from sponsors Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md.”
http://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2013/03/bipartisan-legislation-aims-beef-foia-compliance/61821/

Freedom of Information Act Performance, 2012: Agencies Are Processing More Requests but Redacting More Often
“A building block of American democracy is the idea that citizens have a right to information about how their government works and what it does in their name. However, citizen access to public information was only established by law in 1966 with the passage of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The law has since been strengthened and improved over the years, and FOIA currently requires federal agencies to formally respond to requests for information within 20 working days or potentially face a lawsuit. While there are exemptions that agencies can use to avoid the disclosure of sensitive information or information that violates privacy rights, agencies processed over half a million FOIA requests in 2012. In about 41 percent of these cases, the information requested was released “in full” with no parts “redacted” – i.e., clean, complete documents with no blacked-out parts were provided to the person who requested the information. How does this compare to past years and past administrations? How well has President Obama met his goal of being the most transparent administration in history with regard to access to public information? This report examines the processing of FOIA requests from 25 major federal agencies in 2012 and reviews the processing of FOIA requests by agencies since 1998.”
http://www.foreffectivegov.org/freedom-information-act-agencies-are-processing-more-requests-but-redacting-more-often

Whither whistleblowing: Where have all the leaking sites gone?
“More than two years ago, a flurry of new WikiLeaks clones sprung up around the world inspired by the world’s most famous transparency-driven organization. They had all kinds of names: QuebecLeaks, BaltiLeaks, EnviroLeaks, and more. PirateLeaks (based in the Czech Republic), BrusselsLeaks (Belgium) and RuLeaks (Russia) all did not respond to Ars’ requests for comments. HonestAppalachia’s Jimmy Tobias wrote to Ars to say the group was “active indeed, and working on a variety of projects.” To date, HonestAppalachia has yet to publish anything, despite receiving a $5,000 grant from the Sunlight Foundation nearly a year ago. Most of these clones never got very far and appear to have all but shut down. Balkanleaks seems to be just one of a handful still actively receiving and publishing new documents. “I think this points to the fact that what WikiLeaks did was fairly unique and probably a few years ahead of its time,” said Trevor Timm, co-founder of the Freedom of the Press Foundation. So how does Balkanleaks thrive where others haven’t?”
http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/03/whither-whistleblowing-where-have-all-the-leaking-sites-gone/

Aaron Swartz to receive posthumous ‘Freedom of Information’ award for open access advocacy
“Internet activist and Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz is slated to receive posthumous recognition in Washington for his efforts promoting free access to taxpayer-funded research. The James Madison Freedom of Information Award is administered by the American Library Association, and recognizes “individuals who have championed, protected and promoted public access to government information and the public’s right to know national information.”"
http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/13/4099792/aaron-swartz-to-receive-posthumous-freedom-of-information-award-for

Senator Tester Champions Government Transparency; Reintroduces POIA
“Today, Senator Jon Tester reintroduced The Public Online Information Act (POIA) a bill that would take already public government information out of file cabinets and put it online in user friendly formats.”
http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2013/03/12/senator-tester-champions-government-transparency-reintroduces-poia/

National Security Letters Are Unconstitutional, Federal Judge Rules
“A federal district court judge in San Francisco has ruled that National Security Letter (NSL) provisions in federal law violate the Constitution. The decision came in a lawsuit challenging a NSL on behalf of an unnamed telecommunications company represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). In the ruling publicly released today, Judge Susan Illston ordered that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) stop issuing NSLs and cease enforcing the gag provision in this or any other case. The landmark ruling is stayed for 90 days to allow the government to appeal.”
https://www.eff.org/press/releases/national-security-letters-are-unconstitutional-federal-judge-rules

Shining a Light on FOIA Practices
“In celebration of Sunshine Week, a number of organizations released Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reviews. These reviews, conducted by National Security Archives, the Center for Effective Government, Cause of Action, Associated Press, and OpenTheGovernment.org, indicate how agencies measure up when it comes to providing the public with information. Although the studies indicate that agencies on the whole increased their responses to FOIA requests in 2012, disparities remain between agencies on things like response time, compliance with the 2007 Open Government Act and 2009 Guidance from the White House, cost of responding, fee waivers, and backlog reductions. A majority of responses to FOIA requests in 2012 were only partial responses, and use of exemptions to withhold or redact information increased. The following snapshots contain some of the highlights of each review.”
http://www.pogo.org/blog/2013/03/20130315-shining-a-light-on-foia-practices.html

Public Policy

2013 World Press Freedom Index: Dashed hopes after spring
“After the “Arab springs” and other protest movements that prompted many rises and falls in last year’s index, the 2013 Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index marks a return to a more usual configuration. The ranking of most countries is no longer attributable to dramatic political developments. This year’s index is a better reflection of the attitudes and intentions of governments towards media freedom in the medium or long term.”
http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2013,1054.html

National Archives to Help Launch the Digital Public Library of America’s Pilot Project
“Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero announced today that the National Archives, as a leading content provider to the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), will help launch its first pilot project. The DPLA is a large-scale, collaborative project across government, research institutions, museums, libraries and archives to build a digital library platform to make America’s cultural and scientific history free and publicly available anytime, anywhere, online through a single access point.”
http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2013/nr13-72.html

Open Access

IMLS Director Susan Hildreth Supports Broad Access to Federally Funded Research
“The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) announced today its continuing commitment to expanding public access to IMLS funded research. In a February 22 memorandum, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy directed agencies to develop plans to increase access to federally funded scientific research and improve the management of research data. The following is a statement from IMLS Director Susan H. Hildreth.”
http://www.imls.gov/imls_director_susan_hildreth_supports_broad_access_to_federally_funded_research.aspx

Intellectual Property

What Librarians Need to Know about the New Copyright Alert System
“Late last month, the Center for Copyright Information (CCI) launched its Copyright Alert System, creating a new effort by rights holders (including the Recording Industry Association of America and Motion Picture Association of America) and Internet Service Providers (ISPs), such as Comcast, Verizon, Cablevision and Time Warner Cable) to curb online copyright infringement.”
http://www.districtdispatch.org/2013/03/new-copyright-alert-system-what-librarians-need-to-know/

Privacy Issues

Wimberly, Jasey Introduce “Reader Privacy Act” Bill Upgrading NJ Book Privacy for the Digital Age
“The rise in popularity of digital book purchasing, borrowing and concerns for individual privacy protections has prompted Assembly Democrats Benjie E. Wimberly and Mila M. Jasey to introduce legislation that would place readers and purchasers of books and electronic books –”e-Books”– under similar protections as library records by expanding reader privacy law. Wimberly and Jasey note the invention of digital books and e-readers has raised questions around the country about privacy and broadening protections to include new literary mediums. California enacted similar legislation in 2011 extending library privacy laws to include digital book records.”
http://www.politickernj.com/64006/wimberly-jasey-introduce-reader-privacy-act-bill-upgrading-nj-book-privacy-digital-age
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2012/Bills/A4000/3802_I1.HTM

Please feel free to pass along in part or in its entirety.

The Intersect Alert is a newsletter of the Government Relations Committee, San Francisco Bay Region Chapter, Special Libraries Association.