Govt open code collaborative
"Government Technology":Government moves into the open Here's an idea who's time has come. As local, state and federal govts are increasingly defunded, they will need to find ways to provide the services they provide in more collaborative, open-source ways. Enter the Government Open Code Collaborative Repository. It's a great way to share expertise and software rather than relying on multiple (usually expensive) solutions. As Peter Quinn, CIO of Massachusetts, puts it, "if one state developed a better electronic licensing system or voter registration system using open source and then shared it with other states, it was an exercise in democracy through the exchange of information in an open society underpinned by reliable technology." What a concept, efficient government using democratic principles! Continue reading
Freedom of Information Far From Free
Freedom of Information Far From Free, OMB Watch, 2/07/2005. The Justice Department has responded to the People for the American Way(PFAW)'s FOIA request, "all records related to the decision to seal the records of immigrants detained in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks will cost nearly $400,000." Continue reading
Republican Policy Committee Attempts to Bolster Data Quality Act
Republican Policy Committee Attempts to Bolster Data Quality Act, OMB Watch, 02/07/2005.
This article analyzes a new "background document" from the Senate Republican Policy Committee on the Data Quality Act. OMBWatch says that document "praises the law’s benefits and attempts to bolster its legitimacy" but makes factual errors and inadvertantly supports criticism of the Act. The article gives an example of use of how the Act has been used in attempts to suppress scientific information.
Continue readingNHRPC and NARA slated for budget cuts
This was originally posted on the Moving Image Archivists list by Lance Watsky, Preservation & Media Specialist, The Georgia Archives. >>>>>>>>>> On Monday, the President of the US released his FY2006 budget recommendations which slash or eliminate more than 150 federal programs. In that budget, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) has been targeted to receive NO funding. This includes no funds for the grants program and no funds for staffing to support the NHPRC programs. In addition, the overall budget for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has significant decreases in other areas of importance. The relevant section for NHPRC specifically and sparsely states: "National Historical Publications and Records Commission Grants. This program provides funding for grants that the Commission makes, nationwide, to preserve and publish records that document American history. The Budget proposes no new grants funding for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission in 2006." Continue reading
Trademark filings now available on the web
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is now offering documents in the official trademark application file, including all decisions made by trademark examining attorneys and their reasons for making them. Here is more from the press release:
Trademark Document Retrieval (TDR) offers the public an advanced electronic portal to PDF viewing, downloading and printing of an array of information and documents for more than 460,000 trademark applications totaling more than eight million document pages. As new applications are filed, they will be added to the database. It is expected that more than 300,000 application files will be added annually. Over the next five years, the remaining paper files of approximately 1.2 million active trademark registrations will be converted into digital format for TDR access. “Trademarks help consumers distinguish among products and services and are often an organization’s most valuable asset,†noted Jon Dudas, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO. “The TDR system improves our ability to provide timely and useful information to business owners as they develop their marks and prepare to file trademark applications.†The TDR system builds on the USPTO’s First Action System for Trademarks (FAST), which replaced paper files and is now used by all trademark examining attorneys to review applications. All federally registered and pending trademarks are available to the public on the USPTO’s Web site (www.uspto.gov), where status information is also available. The trademark data includes nearly 2 million pending and registered trademarks dating back to 1885 and represents more than 100 years of marketing creativity.
Thanks to beSpacific
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