NARA Press Release:
Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein and Librarian of Congress James H. Billington announced today that the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has become a founding partner in the World Digital Library (WDL).
NARA will contribute digital versions of important documents from its collections to the WDL, which will be launched for [...]
Archive of entries posted on July 2008
National Archives, Library of Congress Form World Digital Library Partnership
Appeal of Vice-President Visitor Logs Lawsuit Dismissed
From the FOIA blog:
A three judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has dismissed an appeal of a lower court ruling that the Secret Service must process visitor logs relating to the Vice-President for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
In the lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics [...]
Legislative Databases recommendation makes it to House Leg Branch Appropriations markup
From the Open House Project:
I’m ecstatic. All right, so this all goes back to late 2006, a bunch of people sitting at their computers writing some emails about what Congress should do with data. I distinctly remember Dan Newman and I both thinking that the Library of Congress should make its raw legislative database (that [...]
Database of every phone call and email ‘a step too far’
From the Guardian UK:
The information commissioner today expressed concern at a proposed government database recording the entire country’s telephone and internet use, calling it “a step too far for the British way of life”.
Richard Thomas, who heads the government’s privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), said there was a grave danger of the police [...]
Sir Cliff Richard pins hopes on law that will keep cash rolling in until he’s 113
From the Times Online:
The rock dinosaurs of the 1960s are in line for a spectacular windfall after the EU announced plans yesterday to extend musicians’ entitlement to retrospective royalties from 50 to 95 years.
Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Cliff Richard and Roger Daltrey have all campaigned for what the record industry calls “the Beatles extension”, which [...]
Report Finds Gaps in Federal E-Mail Records – GAO Says Agencies Are Inconsistent in Preserving Electronic Documents
From the Washington Post:
Federal officials inconsistently preserve government e-mail, creating gaps in the public record and making it difficult for the public to understand the activities of the government, according to a report released by the Government Accountability Office yesterday.
The report came before a scheduled House vote today on a bill that would create standards [...]
Microsoft, Google back broad privacy legislation
From the Mercury News:
Microsoft and Google told lawmakers today that Congress should pass basic privacy legislation to protect information about consumers, such as the data being gathered about people’s Web surfing habits in order to pinpoint Internet advertising.
At a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on online advertising, representatives of the two technology rivals said meaningful privacy [...]
White House Threatens to Veto Bill to Modernize Presidential Records Act
From The Public Record:
On Wednesday, just as the Senate passed sweeping new legislation (H.R. 5811) to modernize a 30 year old federal surveillance law, President Bush signaled that he would swiftly veto a bill approved by the House earlier in the day that would overhaul the Presidential and Federal Records Act to ensure emails and [...]
Senate Approves Bill to Broaden Wiretap Powers
From the New York Times:
The Senate gave final approval on Wednesday to a major expansion of the government’s surveillance powers, handing President Bush one more victory in a series of hard-fought clashes with Democrats over national security issues.
The measure, approved by a vote of 69 to 28, is the biggest revamping of federal surveillance law [...]
FOIA Backlog Down, But Agencies Missed Opportunity for Major Breakthrough
From the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government:
A just completed study by the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government shows that federal departments and agencies made little progress in responding to Freedom of Information Act requests, despite a two-year-old presidential directive to improve service. The report, “An Opportunity Lost”, says agencies cut staff and FOIA [...]