Friends--
One of the basic principles that we (AALL) and the IIA (Information
Industries Association) are agreed upon is that the government has an
obligation to make its information available to the public at low or no
cost. (They use a marginal cost formula; we usually say free or low
cost).
Whatever the formulation, we are all clear, along with all the other
library associations and many other public interest organizations, that
the government should not use its information as a way of generating
revenue or making a profit. (That concern is what underlies the
discussion of whether or not Court bulletin boards should charge $1.00
per minute, $ .75 per minute, or something much less, more related to
actual costs.)
Now here comes a proposal for a court to profit from its information
big-time. Attached are two files about a proposal that will establish a
program for the Los Angeles Municipal and Superior courts to establish a
program for online access. This program declares that most customers
will be commercial. (What about us? What about the public?) Then it
establishes a start up fee of nearly $ 50,000. (I guess none of us will
do that, will we?) Then the ongoing charges will be $1.25 or more per
transaction.
Moreover, the County proposes to exercise ownership-like rights by
proscribing any purchasor from reselling the data in bulk, whether on
tape or even on a CD! (I guess that would even exclude pubication in a
Reporter.)
Apparently, the County is not taking written comments on this proposal,
though I think we'll try to send one anyway. Apparently, we can leave a
voice mail message at the desk of Lori Howard at (213) 974-5555. Her fax
number is (213) 974-1010.
Those who care about low cost access to judicial information should
call (or fax) today.
I'd also love to hear more details from any California law librarians
who are familiar with this seemingly problematic proposal.
Bob
*************************************************************************
Robert L. Oakley Phone: (202) 662-9160
Georgetown Univ. Law Library FAX: (202) 662-9202
111 G Street, N.W. Internet: OAKLEY@LAW.GEORGETOWN.EDU
Washington, D.C. 20001 Packet Radio: WK3C @ W3INK.MD.USA.NA
I make no claim of copyright in this message and hereby place it in the
public domain. Feel free to reproduce, retransmit, or copy the message,
but please retain the signature line or give appropriate credit for any
such use.
*************************************************************************
*** Attached File #1: la1.asc ***
From: Jim Warren ("jwarren@WELL.SF.CA.US")
To: FOI-L@suvm.acs.syr.EDU
Date: Saturday, April 15, 1995 6:44 pm
Subject: INCOMING! - L.A. court rcds fees will kill modern public access (SMTP Id#: 51532)
[By blind cc to some closed journalists' lists, as well as to the
identified addressees]
FAST-ACTION ALERT! Los Angeles hearing and possible decision, NEXT TUESDAY!
If adopted, this will set a monumentally-bad precedent for modern
(computerized) access to the third branch of government. Howl instantly,
of live with the consequences of this high-profile precedent that others
will surely follow.
I just received a panic call and fax from the Information Industry
Association in Washingtoontown, from a woman named "Alden Schache" as well
as I can decipher the faxed hand-scribble, 202-639-8262. IIA says:
The L.A. County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to hold a hearing on
Tuesday, April 18th, to approve of a muni and superior courts' online
public-records "access" program and approve an Information Access Provider
Agreement. Among other things, the County proposes to restrict reuse and
redistribution of the information and require such "providers" to indemnify
the county from any responsibility for providing erroneous court
information.
The agreement declares that most Information Access Providers will be
commercial customers. It ignores all issues of access or redistribution by
individuals, pro bono and "poverty" attorneys or public-interest
organizations. The clear goal is to provide a major revenue source for the
County.
The IIA summaries some of the monumental costs - that will create serious
barriers to modern (computerized) public access to these public court
records:
* One-time start-up fee of $49,255 for each access provider. (Yes! - that's
almost a $50,000 start-up fee!)
* Ongoing access fees of $1.25 or more PER TRANSACTION!
* A deposit required in addition to the start-up fee, equal to six months
estimated access fees, deposted with the county, with no interest accruing
to the depositor.
* A PROHIBITION against any Access Provider of the information from making
the purchased County Data available in bulk or via multiple records or on
CD-ROM or other electronic or optical mass media.
There are at least three pages of details and recommendations to the Board
of Supervisors, from Barry Nidorf, Chair, County of Los Angeles Information
Systems Advisory Body of the Countywide Criminal Justice Coordination
Committee.
The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors are at 500 West Temple St., LA 90012.
Mo' as I git it. Send details as you discover 'em.
--jim
Jim Warren, GovAccess moderator; columnist, MicroTimes/Govt.Tech/BoardWatch
345 Swett Rd., Woodside CA 94062; voice/415-851-7075; fax/<# upon request>
jwarren@well.com (well.com = well.sf.ca.us)
[puffery: James Madison Freedom-of-Information Award, Soc. of Professional
Journalists - Nor.Calif.(1994); Hugh Hefner First-Amendment Award, Playboy
Foundation (1994); Pioneer Award, Electronic Frontier Foundation (its first
year, 1992); founded Computers, Freedom & Privacy confs, InfoWorld, etc.]
*** EOF ***
*** Attached File #2: la2.asc ***
From: Hal Weber ("harold.g.weber@SUPPORT.COM")
To: FOI-L@suvm.acs.syr.EDU
Date: Monday, April 17, 1995 9:03 pm
Subject: La county public records (SMTP Id#: 53437)
PUBLIC INPUT REQUIRED!
When Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich ran for office in 1988,
he claimed to be "responsive to his constituents: their concerns are his
concerns".
Tomorrow, Tuesday, 4-18-95, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors is
scheduled to hold a hearing to APPROVE an Information Access Provider
Agreement to CHARGE THE PUBLIC for on-line access to the public records of
the Municipal and Superior Courts.
I was told by his office today that Mr. Antonovich is IN FAVOR of using our
public records as a REVENUE RAISING SOURCE by CHARGING US for ON-LINE
ACCESS to those records. You and I OWN those records. WE PAID for the
computer systems on which they are stored. WE PAY the salaries of all
those responsible for inputing the data onto those computers.
But your "representative", Mike Antonovich, does NOT want you to have FREE
access to Court records.
If you are concerned about being deprived of free access to public records
by those you have elected to "represent" you, this is a good time to voice
your opinion!
Lori Howard is the Justice Deputy in Antonovich's downtown Los Angeles
office. You can leave a voice mail message there at (213)974-5555. The
downtown FAX number is (213)974-1010.
Antonovich also has an office in Pasadena, (818)356-5407 (Voice) and
(818)568-0159 (FAX).
*********
Hal Weber
414 West Arden Avenue, Apt. #1
Glendale, CA 91203-1114
<harold.g.weber@support.com>
*********
*** EOF ***
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 03/09/00 PST