[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]


Message 00232: Re: ntis as a foia escape hatch?



yup. I keep telling people that if we want to liberate the public domain, we need capital. :)

basically, if it is available for sale, then that is an automatic foia escape. you can ask for a review under omb a130, but that has been more ignored than followed, even during the Clinton Administration (it says that the price of government goods must be only the cost of distribution, not a profit center).

On Sep 12, 2008, at 11:49 AM, Aaron Swartz wrote:

http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/foiapost/2002foiapost17.htm

This does not look good:

"In relation to the FOIA, NTIS occupies a special status as
established by the Freedom of Information Reform Act of 1986 [...]
FOIA's fee provisions can be "supersede[d]" [...] [OMB] specifically
recognize[s] NTIS's statutory scheme as qualifying [...] Accordingly,
several federal agencies submit various categories of records, or what
NTIS refers to as "information products," to NTIS and then refer FOIA
requesters to NTIS to obtain them."

Old FDA reports about bad drug reactions are in the NTIS trap; they
wanted $450 per year for them!