From cnet:
The Iranian government is trying to control the flow of information among protesters of the supposed results of that nation’s presidential election, and to and from news organizations.
But, reports CBS News Science and Technology Correspondent Daniel Sieberg, Tehran is having difficulty stopping citizens from using technology to report what’s happening, express outrage and get [...]
Archive of entries posted on June 2009
Iran protesters using tech to skirt curbs
Iran’s Web Spying Aided By Western Technology
From the Wall Street Journal:
The Iranian regime has developed, with the assistance of European telecommunications companies, one of the world’s most sophisticated mechanisms for controlling and censoring the Internet, allowing it to examine the content of individual online communications on a massive scale.
Interviews with technology experts in Iran and outside the country say Iranian efforts [...]
CFAC and MAPLight.org Win Public Access to California Database of Lawmakers’ Votes
MAPLight Press Release:
CFAC and MAPLight.org Win Public Access to California Database of Lawmakers’ Votes
The California First Amendment Coalition (CFAC) and MAPLight.org, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization that shows the connection between money and politics, announce today that they have settled their freedom of information lawsuit against the Office of Legislative Counsel of California, having gained [...]
Air Force audit finds agency lacks basic systems to comply with the Freedom of Information Act
From the National Security Archive:
A report issued by the Air Force Audit Agency that was released to the National Security Archive this week identifies significant mismanagement in the Air Force Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) program. The findings demonstrate a pattern of noncompliance with statutory timeframes to respond to records requests from the public and [...]
Sunlight Foundation To Bid on Recovery.gov
From Sunlight Foundation:
We’ve decided to do something crazy. On Tuesday afternoon, someone handed us a copy of the Recovery.gov 2.0 RFP and we thought: what if we try something truly radical here. What if we opened up the process of government contracting by bidding on this thing? We together– not just we meaning The Sunlight [...]
CIA Fights Full Release Of Detainee Report
From the Washington Post:
The CIA is pushing the Obama administration to maintain the secrecy of significant portions of a comprehensive internal account of the agency’s interrogation program, according to two intelligence officials.
The officials say the CIA is urging the suppression of passages describing in graphic detail how the agency handled its detainees, arguing that the [...]
Open Government Year in Review 2008-2009
From the Local Open Government blog:
The First Annual “Open Government Year in Review 2008-2009″ is now available for download. The Year in Review collects articles on case developments and other open government issues during the last year.
Obama Criticized for Withholding Visitor Logs
From the Washington Post:
President Obama has embraced Bush administration justifications for denying public access to White House visitor logs even as advisers say they are reviewing the policy of keeping secret the official record of comings and goings.
In recent days, the Secret Service has rejected requests from two organizations for the logs, which document the [...]
Senate OKs block of alleged abuse photos
From CNN:
The Senate passed by unanimous consent Wednesday a bill (S. 1285) that would prevent the release of controversial photos of alleged U.S. abuse of prisoners and detainees.
The bill, sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut Independent, and Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, had originally been part of the war funding supplemental bill passed [...]
Obama Closes Doors on Openness
From Newsweek:
As a senator, Barack Obama denounced the Bush administration for holding “secret energy meetings” with oil executives at the White House. But last week public-interest groups were dismayed when his own administration rejected a Freedom of Information Act request for Secret Service logs showing the identities of coal executives who had visited the White [...]