Podcast: Access Denied
Journalists are supposed to serve as “watchdogs” on the government. But how do they get access to the information they need to do that? In this episode, we talk…
FOIA
Press
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7 lessons from BuzzFeed’s ‘FOIA-friendly newsroom’
"If BuzzFeed reporters are having trouble getting records, they can turn to Nabiha Syed, the company's assistant general counsel. She often handles the…
Press
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As legacy media cuts back on FOIA, digital-only news outlets step in
"BuzzFeed, which has also quietly ramped up its FOIA work, plans to get even more aggressive in the face of the record number of government denials, BuzzFe…
Press
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Obama's transparency questioned as new rules formalize FOIA exemption
"But David Levine, a law professor at Elon University, said that while the court ruled the office can be exempted, it does not have to be. “The administra…
The Social Layer of Freedom of Information Law
It is now received wisdom that a properly functioning democracy requires transparency and accountability — information shared with the public that allows the pu…
Blog
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Proposal would require Tracking Numbers for FOIA requests
According to National Journal's Technology Daily: The House Oversight and Government Reform Information Policy Subcommittee on Tuesday approved legislation…
Blog
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Open Source Licensing - Revisioning the Good
This morning I came across Stacy Cowley's article GPL 3: An Open Source Earthquake?. As a member of OGC Consortium, the group responsible for developing ge…
Blog
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Victory in Poulsen FOIA case
In April of 2006, Wired News editor Kevin Poulsen sued the United States Customs and Border Patrol under the Freedom of Information Act. Poulsen won the case, a…
Blog
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Poulsen Files Motion For Attorney's Fees After Successful Action
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) includes a fee-shifting provision to incentivize private individuals to bring FOIA compliance actions. An award of fees is…
Blog
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Motion for Fees Filed in Poulsen FOIA case
We Filed our Motion for attorney's fees in the Poulsen FOIA case. FOIA includes a fee-shifting provision to encourage people to litigate to defend their rig…