IP: high-profit publishers highjacking *our* government info!

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

X-Sender: jwarren () mail well com
Date: Sat, 19 Sep 1998 16:32:32 -0700
To: State and Local Freedom of Information Issues <FOI-L () LISTSERV SYR EDU>,
        CalFOI () well com, GovAccess () well com
From: Jim Warren <jwarren () well com>
Subject: ACTION! - high-profit publishers highjacking *our* government
info!
Cc: "Bernadine Abbott Hoduski" <ber () initco net>


ACTION TIME! ... that is, if you care about free and at-cost *public*
access to *our* government's *public* records.  High-profit publishers and
information peddlers are fighting a major battle in Congress against a bill
that would guarantee free and low-cost public access to *our* government's
*public* information -- legislative, executive and judicial.


If they win -- and kill Senate Bill 2288 -- then information about how our
government conducts *our* business will be available *only* to those who
can afford to buy it from for-profit publishers and purveyors.


Use you voice NOW ... or loose it!  Contact your Congress-critter, NOW!, in
support of S2288.


Following are more details, just received from an American Library
Assocation member, who is part of their Information Access Working Group.


--jim; jwarren () well com
Jim Warren, sometime columnist, political irritant, hedonist wannabe
345 Swett Rd., Woodside CA 94062; 650-851-7075; fax-for-the-quaint/650-851-2814


[self-inflating puff: Hugh Hefner First-Amendment Award, Playboy Foundation;
Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Award (in its first year);
James Madison Freedom-of-Information Award, Soc.of Prof.Journalists-Nor.Calif
founded InfoWorld; the Computers, Freedom & Privacy Conferences; etc etc etc.]


===


> THE "BOTTOM LINE" VERSUS FREE PUBLIC ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT INFORMATION
>
> Congress' Senate Bill 2288, the Government Publications Reform Act of
> 1998, is
> turning out to be a major battle with librarians, citizens and consumers
> fighting against well-funded, large-donor, for-profit corporations.
>
> S2288 assures 1) free public access to government information in all
> formats, from the three branches of government and 2)   preservation of
> electronic government information for free long term public access  The
> opposition includes, publishers like McGraw Hill who want to privatize
> government publications; companies such as Xerox, Texas Instruments, and
> Kodak, which manufacture and sell electronic printing systems, who want to
> sell them to government agencies with no restrictions.  The bill would
> direct agencies to reduce the number of government printing operations and
> rely upon the thousands of mom and pop printing companies throughout the
> US.
>
> The US Courts are also fighting the bill because they do not want  to
> provide free public access to appellate and local court opinions.  Could
> the fact that a number of private companies have contracts to print and in
> some cases sell these opinions have something to do with the opposition to
> this bill?
>
> The bill is up for a vote by the Senate during the week of September 21,
> 1998. Please ask your Senators to vote for the bill.
>
> The Inter-Association Working Group on Government Information Policy (IAWG)
> site has more information  http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/IAWG
>
> An easy way to contact Senators is through the ALA Washington Office
> Legislative Action Center at http://congress.nw.dc.us/ala/
>
> Bernadine Abbott Hoduski, ALA at-large member of IAWG.  100 North Lamborn,
> Helena, Mt. 59601 (406-449-9974)  ber () initco net