From the New York Times:
It will be a Cinderella moment for the band of researchers who study the hidden history of American government.
At midnight on Dec. 31, hundreds of millions of pages of secret documents will be instantly declassified, including many F.B.I. cold war files on investigations of people suspected of being Communist sympathizers. After [...]
Archive of entries posted on December 2006
U.S. to Declassify Secrets at Age 25
Google’s book-scanning efforts trigger philosophical debate
From the Boston Herald:
Already facing a legal challenge for alleged copyright infringement, Google Inc.’s crusade to build a digital library has triggered a philosophical debate with an alternative project promising better online access to the world’s books, art and historical documents.
The latest tensions revolve around Google’s insistence on chaining the digital content to its Internet-leading [...]
Smithsonian turns away filmmakers
From the Associated Press:
Two filmmakers were refused access to the Smithsonian Institution’s collections for their projects but researchers generally have not been restricted so far by the Smithsonian’s semi-exclusive deal with a cable network, congressional investigators said.
Prosecutors Drop A.C.L.U. Subpoena in Document Fight
From the New York Times:
Federal prosecutors in New York yesterday withdrew a subpoena to the American Civil Liberties Union that had sought to retrieve all copies of a classified document.
In an opaque and defensive four-page letter to the judge in the case, the prosecutors said they were acting “in light of changed circumstances” and their [...]
GAO Report: Additional Information Should Be Developed and Provided to Filmmakers on the Impact of the Showtime Contract
Highlights:
In March 2006, the Smithsonian Institution (Smithsonian) announced that it had entered into a 30-year contract with Showtime Networks Inc., (Showtime) to create a digital on-demand television channel. Members of Congress and other interested parties, particularly filmmakers, raised issues about the contract’s potential effects on public access to and use of the Smithsonian’s collections, its [...]
Public-records bill clears Legislature
From the Akron Beacon Journal:
A bill mandating public-records training for elected officials and stiffening penalties for withholding records recently cleared the Ohio Legislature.
The bill also would increase the likelihood that those denied records will get their attorney’s fees paid.
The A to Z Guide to Political Interference in Science
From the Union of Concerned Scientists:
The United States government bears great responsibility for keeping our environment clean and Americans healthy and safe. And while science is rarely the only factor in public policy decisions, this input should be objective and impartial.
In recent years, however, scientists who work for and advise the federal government have seen [...]
New twist on government control of data: use of subpoenas
From the Christian Science Monitor:
Both sides agree that nothing less than the nature of American society is at stake, although each side sees different threats. The administration says the danger comes from technically savvy terrorists who are out to exploit the nation’s open society in order to undermine it. Critics contend that the real peril [...]
Fears over NZ copyright law change
From Stuff.co.nz:
InternetNZ is crying foul over proposed changes to the country’s copyright laws.
The Copyright (New Technologies and Performers’ Rights) Amendment Bill, awaiting its first reading in Parliament, puts a maximum penalty of a $150,000 fine and five years in prison for anyone caught selling devices or publishing information which could be used to get around [...]
Bush Administration to Close E.P.A Libraries in San Francisco and Nationwide
From Beyond Chron:
The 2007 Federal Budget proposed by the Bush Administration and currently before Congress includes a budget cut that would entirely eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency’s 27 libraries nationwide, including San Francisco’s own EPA Region 9 library. The Region 9 library provides the public, free of charge, with environmental data on CA, AZ, NV, [...]