From the Daily Press:
Acquiring information from city government could soon get easier for Suffolk residents.
The city plans to create an office that will handle requests for documents that are available to the public under the Freedom of Information Act.
Archive of entries posted on January 2007
Office to handle FIOA requests to be created in Suffolk, VA
The Center for Democracy and Technology’s comprehensive legislative recommendations for 2007
The Center for Democracy and Technology has released their comprehensive legislative recommendations for 2007:
The 110th Congress faces a host of Internet policy decisions that will have a lasting impact on commerce, national security, and civil liberties. For more than a decade, the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) has sought to defend the free and [...]
Lobbying backlash could hit bloggers
From News.com:
A bill that Senate Democrats have touted as a means to curb corruption in Washington could instead target some political bloggers with new regulations and even criminal penalties.
The legislation, which began as an attempt to rewrite federal lobbying laws in the aftermath of the Jack Abramoff scandal, has ballooned to more than 9,000 words [...]
Egyptian blogger stands trial, accused of insulting Islam, inciting strife
From the Mercury News:
An Egyptian blogger went on trial Thursday on charges of insulting Islam and causing sectarian strife with his Internet writings. Egypt’s first prosecution of a blogger came as Washington has backed away from pressuring its Mideast ally to improve its human rights record and bring democratic reform.
Abdel Kareem Nabil often denounced Islamic [...]
Opening holocaust archive slow work
From the Arizona Daily Sun:
Despite pressure from U.S. lawmakers and frustration among Holocaust survivors, a unique Nazi-era archive remains off-limits to researchers, and officials say it could take years before the millions of documents become available for study.
Eight months have passed since the 11 countries administering the vast storehouse of log books, transport lists and [...]
EPA gets an earful on library closures
From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
A national controversy over cutbacks and outright closings of Environmental Protection Agency libraries came to Seattle over the weekend as librarians from around the country told EPA officials the agency is undercutting its own workers, its scientists and the public.
Canadian woman faces 13-year wait for hog industry info
From CBC News:
A woman from the Rural Municipality of Daly in western Manitoba faces a long wait — 13½ years, to be exact — for government records she requested about the province’s livestock industry.
Before the holidays, Ruth Pryzner asked the Manitoba government for records on all known hog operations in the province, filing a number [...]
ACLU and CNSS Seek Records on Warrantless Mail Surveillance
ACLU Press Release:
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for National Security Studies today filed three Freedom of Information Act requests seeking the immediate release of records related to President Bush’s asserted authority to search Americans’ mail without a warrant. The president claimed this unprecedented authority in a “signing statement” attached to a statute [...]
U.S. court upholds copyright law on ‘orphan works’
From the San Diego Union-Tribune:
A U.S. appeals court has rejected a bid by Internet activists to roll back federal laws that extended copyright protection over orphan works, or books and other media that are no longer in print.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision to dismiss Kahle v. [...]
Italian court rules downloading isn’t a crime if not for profit
From the Mercury News:
Italy’s top criminal court has ruled that downloading music, movies and software over the Internet isn’t a crime if profit wasn’t the motivation, though analysts questioned Monday whether the ruling would have much effect on copyright laws.
The court’s decision, issued earlier this month but reported over the weekend by the Italian media, [...]