Blacked Out: Government Secrecy in the Information Age
If you have access to EBSCOhost databases, you can read a review of the book "Blacked Out: Government Secrecy in the Information Age," by Alasdair Roberts in: Issues in Science & Technology; Winter2007, Vol. 23 Issue 2, p92-95, 3p Although the review isn't a 100% favorable, it looks like the book is worth a look. Particularly how it lays out a US-driven drive for secrecy across the world, according to the reviewer:
Roberts goes on to explain the three trends he sees as threatening the march toward greater transparency, and here he is perhaps most compelling. The first trend is the development of what he calls "opaque networks." Although the 9/11 Commission and the 2004 reform of the U.S. intelligence system made information-sharing a major priority in the fight against terrorism, much less appreciated has been the way in which information-sharing undermines the efforts to promote open government. Robert writes: "Transparency within the network is matched by opacity without." For instance, cities and states that work with the federal government on homeland security face strict new limits on what they can disclose under their own FOI laws. At the international level, Roberts reports that many of the new democracies of Eastern Europe specifically passed national security and other limits on transparency at the insistence of the United States. To participate in new information-sharing networks, these countries had to promise not to disclose any secrets exchanged, even if their own antisecrecy laws said otherwise.People not blessed by with EBSCOhost subscriptions can read a review by UMD author Daniel Hoffman. Continue reading
Employees Say: EPA Library System Continues to Implode
Thanks to Bernadine Abbott Hoduski for passing along this press release from a federal employees group regarding the EPA Library controversy: ----------------- Contact: Carol Goldberg (202) 265-7337 EPA LIBRARY SYSTEM CONTINUES TO IMPLODE Union Charges EPA with Unfair Labor Practice for Refusing to Consult on Closures Washington, DC — Despite public pledges of cooperation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is refusing to consult with its own employees about the effects of past or schedule of future library closures, according to an unfair labor practices complaint released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). In the face of growing congressional opposition, EPA continues to shutter libraries and make collections unavailable both to its own staff and the public. The unfair labor practice complaint was filed on Monday, February 5, 2007 by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) National Council of EPA Locals, Council 238 before the Federal Labor Relations Authority. The complaint centers on the closure of the EPA Regional Library in Chicago and charges that EPA has refused to bargain on the impacts this action has on scientists and other specialists. The complaint asks for intervention to force EPA to enter binding arbitration on the subject. "EPA touts its outreach efforts but has refused to consult with its own professionals or anyone else prior to hacking apart its library system," stated PEER Associate Director Carol Goldberg. "It is ridiculous that our nation's top environmental professionals have to wage legal battle just to keep access to information." This Tuesday, in an oversight hearing before the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson testified that only five of the 26-library network had been closed. In fact, additional libraries have been shut, including, most recently the EPA Regional Library in Atlanta (serving eight southeastern states) where virtually all services had been transferred to Cincinnati. When confronted by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), the committee chair, Johnson said he knew nothing about this functional shuttering of the Atlanta facility. The rationale for EPA's library shutdowns has shifted. Originally it was to save funds but agency studies show that its libraries produce cost savings several times their budgets by eliminating staff time that would otherwise be spent on tracking down documents. In addition, EPA's plan to digitize tens of thousands of documents will likely cost far more than the $1.5 million it estimated it might save. Now, EPA claims that it wants to modernize its information system, even as its budget is being cut - the FY 08 proposed budget unveiled by President Bush this week would cut EPA's budget by 6.6%. The agency, however, has not described how the new system it is implementing on a piecemeal basis will ultimately function. Nor is it known how this still-developing new system will perform any better. "EPA is forcing its entire staff to become their own librarians, wasting countless hours and sacrificing access to mountains of information formerly available," Goldberg continued. "These shuttered libraries handled tens of thousands of information requests each year, not the handful that EPA is now implying." ----------------- More information and commentary can be found at the PEER website. If EPA Officials authorized to speak on the record wish to comment on any of the claims above, especially: "The rationale for EPA's library shutdowns has shifted. Originally it was to save funds but agency studies show that its libraries produce cost savings several times their budgets by eliminating staff time that would otherwise be spent on tracking down documents. In addition, EPA's plan to digitize tens of thousands of documents will likely cost far more than the $1.5 million it estimated it might save." Please send an e-mail with a verifiable return address to admin AT freegovinfo.info and we will make an unedited blog posting out of your reply. Continue reading
New CRS Report on FOIA
According to the Open CRS Network, the Congressional Research Service has published this helpful report on proposed changes to the Federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): RL32780 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Amendments: 110th Congress February 01, 2007 The report reviews changes to FOIA that were proposed but not enacted in the 109th Congress in hopes of informing decision-making in the 110th. Aside from this legislative review, the report also contains this summary of what Federal FOIA is about and the perceived balancing issues:
The statute has become a somewhat popular tool of inquiry and information gathering for various quarters of American society -- the press, business, scholars, attorneys, consumers, and environmentalists, among others -- as well as some foreign interests. The response to a request may involve a few sheets of paper, several linear feet of records, or perhaps information in an electronic format. Such responses require staff time, search and duplication efforts, and other resource commitments. Agency information management professionals must efficiently and economically service FOIA requests, doing so, of late, in the sensitized homeland security milieu. Requesters must be satisfied through timely supply, brokerage, or explanation. Simultaneously, agency FOIA costs must be kept reasonable. The perception that these conditions are not operative can result in proposed new corrective amendments to the statute.Continue reading
Open House Project from Sunlight Foundation
The Sunlight Foundation has just issued a press release about its new Open House Project. The goal of the project is to explore ways that the workings of the U.S. House of Representatives can be made more transparent using the Internet. The most encouraging news: the project has the support of Speaker Pelosi. The initial list of participants includes high-profile names such as Markos Moulitsas-Zuniga of Daily Kos and my favorite masher of congressional info, Josh Tauberer of Govtrack.us. The group intends to make a report to Congress in March 2007. Continue reading
Victorian Government’s eGovernment Resource Centre
I am in a class about e-government this semester. In our second meeting, our professor showed us the excellent eGovernment Resource Centre. This website from the government of Victoria, Australia has compiled a large directory of e-government websites and news links. You can browse by topical groupings or just browse through an A to Z index. In addition, the site offers RSS feeds that provide such information as new resources for government web designers and site updates as they happen. I find the Daily Digest feed particularly useful, and I will occasionally link to stories I've found there, such as the one about ExpectMore.gov in my previous post.
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