PUBLIC POLICY ISSUE FOR THE NREN & NII

[Willis H. Ware <willis () jake rand org>]

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Folder: YES

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You don't need to read all of the following to sense the issue.  Read
the summary and scan the letter to Congress; you will understand the
problem.  A similar issue is at stake in California and the same
fundamental conflicts exist: namely, a contractor who profits from
public information in re state legislative matters and his political
croonies are opposed to making the database available to the public,
event thought it would be done via INTERNET facilities at essentially
zero cost.

The underlying issue of government data collected for public purpose
and at taxpayer expense in principle should be available to the public
at nominal or zero cost.  Yet there are some arguments to the contrary
and there will always be some contractor who claims to have enhance the
data with "value added supplements."  The issue has not yet arisen at
other levels of government but it is coming; e.g., Information America
now assembles a lot of public records data from city and county sources
and markets it to [primarily] to the legal commuity.

This is a latent issue for the coming NREN and NII especially as the
network services expand beyond the academic and research communities
and into diverse directions.  

It is not a technical issue; it is a public policy issue with many
technical aspects buried in it.

                                                      willis

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From: LOVE@TEMPLEVM.BITNET
Subject: TAP/Crown Jewels Campaign - JURIS - June 24, 1993
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Crown Jewels Campaign
Taxpayer Assets Project/Essential Information
June 24, 1993

                   DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE JURIS

SUMMARY

- -    The Department of Justice (DOJ) is currently negotiating
     contacts with firms who will provide the government with
     electronic copies of court decisions, public laws, and other
     legal documents that are public records.

- -    DOJ has indicated that it will allow the contractors to
     retain ownership of the electronic records, and "rent" the
     data to the government under license agreements.

- -    Under these agreements, DOJ claims that the JURIS database,
     which consists primarily of public documents, will not be
     available to the public.  Since the database will be "owned"
     by the contractor, it will not be subject to FOIA.

- -    The DOJ contracting procedures are profoundly anti-
     competitive, and are designed to benefit large commercial
     data vendors such as WESTLAW and LEXIS at the expensive of
     new entrants in the market for legal information.


The following the text of a letter which was sent to Senators Joe Biden
(f. 202/224-9516), Joseph Lieberman (f. 202/228-3792), Patrick Leahy (f.
202/224-9516) and Representatives Jack Brooks (f. 202/225-1958), Gary
Condit (f. 202/225-2445) and Ron Wyden (f. 202/225-8950).  The letter
criticizes the Department of Justice (DOJ) practice of allowing
contractors who supply the government with digital copies of public
documents to "license" the information to the government with
restrictions against public access to the data.

June 24, 1993

Senator/Representative

Dear Sir:

I am writing to ask for an investigation into the management of JURIS
system, an online information system which is run by the Department of
Justice (DOJ).

The JURIS system is a very valuable information system which provides
online access to a vast amount of important federal legal information,
including such items as the full text of laws, statutes, decisions by
federal judges, DOJ briefs and manuals, foreign treaties, extensive
administrative law and much more (See Appendix).

DOJ allows about 15,000 government employees to use JURIS, but will not
provide access to ordinary citizens, who pay for JURIS through taxes.
The barriers to public access to JURIS are not due to security problems.
The JURIS database consists primarily of public documents.  Indeed,
since Americans are presumed to know the law, they are presumed to know
the information which is contained in JURIS.  JURIS is, for all
practical purposes, a users guide for being a U.S. citizen.

The barriers to public access to JURIS are due to extensive lobbying by
a handful of commercial data vendors who sell online access to legal
information, and who have persuaded DOJ to use a bizarre method of
gathering data for JURIS.

The bulk of the JURIS database consists of public documents, and JURIS
is run on computers and software owned by the government. However, under
President Ronald Reagan, DOJ was instructed to "contract out" the
gathering of the legal information in digital formats.  Under two
contracts over the past decade, DOJ has paid millions of dollars to West
Publishing, the owner of the WESTLAW online service, to provide the
government with copies of judicial decisions and other legal
information.  However, West provides this information to DOJ under a
contract which does not give the federal government ownership over the
electronic versions of the records in JURIS.  According to DOJ
officials, West "rents" the information to DOJ, for the duration of the
contract.  At the expiration of the contract, DOJ must purge its system
of the records obtained under contract from West.  West is also allowed
under the contract to specifically bar the public from obtaining access
to JURIS.

Matters are further complicated by the fact that West often inserts
special analysis and annotations, which are copyrighted by West, in the
text of non-copyrighted public documents, "contaminating" the public
records with the privately copyrighted data.

The West contract is now under re-procurement, and it is possible to
prevent the issuance of a third 5 year contract, if steps are taken now.

There are several very important problems with the West contracts:

1.   The contracts for procurement of the digital data are profoundly
     anti-competitive.  The winning bidder must provide access to
     historical records, which West has already been paid to collect,
     but which are not owned by the government.  Thus, a new firm that
     wants to compete against West for data procurement must supply DOJ
     with the historical records that West has been paid to collect over
     the past decade.  This presents an enormous barrier for new firms
     that bid on the data procurement.

2.   The only firms that can easily provide DOJ with access to the
     historical records are data vendors like West or Mead Data Central
     (the owner of LEXIS).  But these firms also want to protect their
     proprietary interest in the data, and seek contractual restrictions
     on the use of the records, so that DOJ will only "rent" and never
     own the data.

3.   The JURIS data procurement contracts benefit WESTLAW and LEXIS in
     two ways.  First, the public cannot use JURIS, which would be a low
     cost alternative to WESTLAW and LEXIS. Second, new firms, including
     small businesses, cannot obtain the JURIS database in order to
     compete with WESTLAW or LEXIS.

4.   It is outrageous that DOJ can operate an information system that is
     paid for by taxpayers, and run on government computers and
     software, and which consists primarily of government records,
     including the law of the land, but it is not available to the
     public, at any price.

     The precedent set by JURIS is very disturbing.  Government agencies
     should not be able to use contracts with private parties to
     frustrate the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and
     the restrictions on federal copyrighting of government information.
     Government databases, consisting of non-copyrighted government
     documents, should be available to the public.


This is an extremely important issue of high interest to the
right-to-know community.  The following groups and individuals can
provide additional information:  David Vladeck, Public Citizen
(202/833-3000); Anne Heanue, the American Library Association
(202/547-4440); Susan Tulis, the American Association of Law Librarians
(202/662-9160); Scott Armstrong, the Information Trust (202/289-5794);
Tom Sussman, Ropes and Gray (202/626-3900, Tom represents a small
business that wants access to the JURIS database).

The Justice Department official who is in charge of JURIS is Richard
Krips, who can be reached at 202/514-5682.


Thank you for your attention to this important matter.


Sincerely,
James Love
Director, Taxpayer Assets Project

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Appendix
SELECTED PORTIONS OF JURIS DATABASE (FALL 1992)

     CASELAW
U.S. Supreme Court; Federal Reporter, 2nd Series; Court of Appeals
Unpublished Decisions; Federal Supplement; Federal Rules Decisions;
Atlantic 2nd Reporter (DC only); Bankruptcy Reporter; Courts of Military
Review; Military Justice Reporter; Court of Claims.

     STATUTORY LAW
Public Laws; United States Code; Executive Orders; Anti-Drug Abuse Act
of 1988; Section-by-section analysis of anti-drug abuse act of 1988;
Criminal Division Handbook on CCCA; The Organic Laws of the United
States

     FEDERAL REGULATIONS
Code of Federal Regulations; Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations;
Defense Acquisition Regulations

     DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE BRIEFS
Office of the Solicitor General; Civil Division; Civil Division Trial;
Environmental and Natural Resources Division; Tax Division Criminal
Appellate; U.S. Attorney's Offices; U.S. Trustees' Offices.

     ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
Published Comptroller General Decisions; Unpublished Comptroller General
Decisions; Opinions of the Attorney General; Office of Legal Counsel
(U.S. Dept. of Justice Board of Contract Appeals; ADP Protest Report
(Summary of ADP Procurement Protests before the GSBCA); Federal Labor
Relations Authority Case Decisions; FLRA Administrative Law Judge
Decisions; Federal Service Impasses Decisions; Decisions and Reports on
Rulings of the Assistant Sec. of Labor for Labor Management Relations;
Federal Labor Relations Council Rulings on Requests of the Asst. Sec. of
Labor for Labor Management Relations; HUD Administrative Law Decisions;
Merit System Protection Board Decisions; Decisions under Immigration and
Nationality Laws; Environmental Protection Agency General Counsel
Opinions; Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Decisions; Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission Policy Statements; U.S. Office of
Government Ethics Decisions; HHS Department Appeals Board Decisions.

     MANUALS
United States Attorney's Manual; United States Trustees' Manual; Federal
Personnel Manual; Federal Acquisition Regulations; Federal Acquisition
Circulars; Federal Travel Regulation; Federal Information Resources
Management Regulation; Federal Property Management Regulations;
Principles of Federal Appropriations Law; Justice Department Acquisition
Regulation; Justice Property Management Regulations.

     TREATIES AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS
United States Treaties and Other International Agreements; Department of
Defense Unpublished International Agreements.

     FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT
FOIA Update Newsletter; DOJ Guide to the FOIA Case List Publications.

     IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION LAW
Decisions Under Immigration and Nationality Law; Title 8 - Code of
Federal Regulations; Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1988,
Legislative History; Equal Access to Justice Act, Legislative History;

     TAX MATERIALS
US Tax Court Decisions; US Board of Tax Appeals Decisions; Tax
Division's Summons Enforcement Decisions; Tax Division's Tax Protester
Case List; Tax Division's Criminal Tax Manual; Tax Division's Criminal
Tax Indictment/Information Forms; Tax Division's Standardized Criminal
Tax Jury Instructions; Tax Division's Criminal Section Newsletter; Tax
Court Memorandum Decisions; IRS Cumulative Bulletin; Tax International
Acts; IRS News Releases; IRS General Counsel Memoranda; IRS Actions on
Decisions; IRS Technical Memoranda.

     INDIAN LAW
Opinions of the Solicitor (Dept. of Interior); Ratified Treaties;
Unratified Treaties; Presidential Proclamations; Executive Orders and
Other Orders Pertaining to Indians.

     DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE WORKPRODUCTS
Civil Division Monographs; Civil Division Torts Branch Handbook on
damages under FTCA; Criminal Division Monographs; Criminal Division
Forms; Criminal Division Guidelines for Drafting Indictments; Criminal
Division Narcotics, Forfeiture, Prosecution Manual; Criminal Division
Directory of Services;  Asset Forfeiture Manuals; Obscenity Enforcement
Reporter; Environmental and Natural Resources Division Monographs; US
Sentencing Commission's Guidelines Manual; Sentencing Guidelines
Updates.

     LEGISLATIVE HISTORIES OF FEDERAL LAWS
Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA); Immigration Reform and Control Act
of 1986; Sentencing Reform Sections of the Senate Report of the CCCA of
1984.
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