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This New York Times article documents the Bush administration’s successful efforts to prevent the public release of a range of government documents largely based on post 9/11 security concerns. Members of Congress have been fighting these efforts on several fronts, including protesting the removal of data from government agency websites for what has been interpreted …
In an opinion filed December 26, 2002, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia sided with EPIC in their quest to test whether the Office of Homeland Security (now called the Department of Homeland Security) is subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
This Wired article by the co-founder of People for Internet Responsibility, Lauren Weinstein, argues against the merits of internet filters in favor of education and personal responsibility.
Penn State Prof. of Journalsim R. Thomas Berner’s commentary on the December 10 Australian Internet libel case highlights concerns voiced elsewhere that ramifications of the case may include blocking access to sites in other countries to avoid more such litigation.
As a followup to my previous posting on the Australian Internet defamation case, this Christian Science Monitor commentary provides a perspective on how the threat of Internet libel litigation by individuals around the world may result in web censorship.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia issued Standing Order 02-01, Electronic Access to Public Records and Sensitive Information, on October 17, 2002. The document stipulates that effective January 1, 2003, the court “intends to make electronic access to court files available through PACER by imaging documents into the court’s computer system.”
The Kaiser Family Foundation issued a study, See No Evil: How Internet Filters Affect the Search for Online Health Information. The focus of the study was how the choice of the ‘least’, ‘intermediate’ or ‘most’ restrictive web filtering options available through six high profile systems (8e6, CyberPatrol, N2H2, Smartfilter, Symantec and Websense), impacted access to …
The American Library Association provides a guide to key provisions of the E-Government Act that impact public access to government documents. The act was passed by both the House and Senate on November 15, 2002. References: H.R. 2458, P.L. 107-347, E-Government Act of 2002 (Dec. 17, 2002; 116 Stat. 2899; 72 pages).
The Poytner Institute school for journalism maintains a range of excellent resources that are of interest to legal researchers. A recent example is their annotated list of government and academic sources for crime statistics.
Jonathan Zittrain and Benjamin Edelman from the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School have published a new report on Web censorship: Empirical Analysis of Internet Filtering in China. From the abstract: “The authors are collecting data on the methods, scope, and depth of selective barriers to Internet access through Chinese networks. …
Amnesty International has published a well researched report on the impact of state controls on Internet access to one of world’s fasted growing population of users. The report provides a timeline that documents the imposition of various controls and regulations on Web access since its introduction to the public in 1995, and their impact on …
The ACLU and EPIC have secured an order from Judge Huvelle, U.S. District Court, D.C., in response to their FOIA complaint for Patriot Act related documents. A list of those documents the DOJ will release must be provided to the groups by January 15, 2003, however, the agency has indicated that documents will be withheld …
