FBI Withdraws Unconstitutional National Security Letter After ACLU and EFF Challenge Gag Order Lifted on Internet Archive, Allowing Founder to Speak Out for First Time

San Francisco - The FBI has withdrawn an unconstitutional national security letter (NSL) issued to the Internet Archive after a legal challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). As the result of a settlement agreement, the FBI withdrew the NSL and agreed to the unsealing of the case, finally allowing the Archive's founder to speak out for the first time about his battle against the record demand.

"The free flow of information is at the heart of every library's work. That's why Congress passed a law limiting the FBI's power to issue NSLs to America's libraries," said Brewster Kahle, founder and Digital Librarian of the Internet Archive. "While it's never easy standing up to the government -- particularly when I was barred from discussing it with anyone -- I knew I had to challenge something that was clearly wrong. I'm grateful that I am able now to talk about what happened to me, so that other libraries can learn how they can fight back from these overreaching demands."

The NSL was served on the Archive -- a digital library recognized by the state of California -- and its attorneys in November of 2007. The letter asked for personal information about one of the Archive's users, including the individual's name, address, and any electronic communication transactional records pertaining to the user. Kahle, who is also a member of EFF's Board of Directors, decided to fight the NSL because it exceeded the FBI's limited authority to issue such demands to libraries.

SLA Needs Your Immediate Help: Support Orphan Works Legislation (but oppose “dark archive”)

If you have a representative serving on the U.S House of Representatives “Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property,” please contact them in support of the proposed Orphan Works Legislation, but in opposition to the "dark archive" that is proposed in the House version of H.R. 5889.

Go to http://capwiz.com/sla/home/ for full details, listing of Subcommittee members, and draft letter for electronic submission.

"Independent Government Observers

The Internet has created a new generation of individuals and institutes that practice the time-honored tradition of observing and reporting on the activities of government. These are reporters in the sense of court reporters, not journalists, auditors as in independent investigators rather than CPAs.

The classic independent observer is the court reporter, such as Henry Wheaton and Richard Peters, two businessmen in the early days of the Republic who took it upon themselves to collect, print, and sell the decisions of courts. Indeed, it was a business spat between those two that led to the classic pronouncement by the Supreme Court on works of government:

The Court is unanimously of opinion that no reporter has or can have any copyright in the written opinions, and that the judges thereof cannot confer on any reporter any such right. Wheaton v. Peters, 33 U.S. (8 Pet.) 591 (1834)

The new breed of government observers span all walks of life. In addition to a vibrant commercial sector, there are increasingly a number of nonprofit, academic, and individual citizen efforts."

Public.Resource.Org is organizing an unconference -- they are looking for 100 delegates to meet and work on issues of making government information more accessible to more people in a variety of formats. Find out more information here.

The ACLU of Northern California has just issued this advisory regarding Sacramento public libraries:

ACLU Urges Library Authority Board to Change Internet Policy that Violates the First Amendment

SACRAMENTO – The ACLU of Northern California (ACLU-NC) and the Sacramento County Chapter of the ACLU-NC are urging the Library Authority Board to revise a policy that limits the public’s access to constitutionally protected material on library computers.

In March, 2007, the Board adopted a "tap on the shoulder" policy that instructs librarians to ask library patrons to stop viewing any material that "would interfere with the maintenance of a safe, welcoming and comfortable environment." Failure to comply can result in the loss of internet privileges. The current policy also requires blocking software on all Sacramento library computers. The software can be turned off only if an adult -- or, for minors, a parent -- specifically requests it.

Because of these policies, a wide array of material that library patrons have a First Amendment right to view is vulnerable to censorship.

“Young people – particularly those who don’t have access to the internet at home - who depend on libraries as a place to go to find out information on sensitive issues are especially impacted by this policy,” said Michael Risher, ACLU-NC staff attorney. “The current policy violates their right to important and sometimes life-saving information.”

The San Jose Public Library recently completed testing of three internet filtering programs and found that WebMD, the American Urological Association, and PFLAG, (Parents and Friends of Lesbian Gays – a LGBT support and advocacy group) were among the sites blocked. The programs also blocked the library’s Health and Wellness Resource Center database and the World Book Encyclopedia online.

The Library Authority Board is scheduled to discuss the Library’s Internet Use and Access Policy at its next meeting, March 27th, 2008.

WHAT: Hearing regarding the Sacramento Public Library Internet Use & Access Policy
WHO: Michael Risher, staff attorney at the ACLU-NC
WHEN: Thursday, March 27, 2008
3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
WHERE: Board of Supervisors Chambers
700 H. Street
Sacramento

To learn more about the issue, including recent reports and San Jose’s filtering tests, visit the ACLU-NC's Library and Internet Filtering Issue Page

(warning: strong language!)

I actually participated in this last year. I kept telling myself to put it up ... but really, I look like something the cat dragged in, then chewed up and then spit out.

Eh. My plea for sunshine ...

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA) has decided to continue the economicindicators.gov website. Featuring the economic releases from ESA’s Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the site was started by this Administration in 2002 to give greater awareness to these economic statistics. ESA initially planned to discontinue the service due to cost concerns but given the feedback ESA received, the decision has been made to continue the site and improve its functionality.

There's a film out that may pique your interest. Secrecy:

In a single recent year the U.S. classified about five times the number of pages added to the Library of Congress. We live in a world where the production of secret knowledge dwarfs the production of open knowledge. Depending on whom you ask, government secrecy is either the key to victory in our struggle against terrorism, or our Achilles heel. But is so much secrecy a bad thing?

Secrecy saves: counter-terrorist intelligence officers recall with fury how a newspaper article describing National Security Agency abilities directly led to the loss of information that could have avoided the terrorist killing of 241 soldiers in Beirut late in October 1983. Secrecy guards against wanton nuclear proliferation, against the spread of biological and chemical weapons. Secrecy is central to our ability to wage an effective war against terrorism.

Secrecy corrupts. From extraordinary rendition to warrant-less wiretaps and Abu Ghraib, we have learned that, under the veil of classification, even our leaders can give in to dangerous impulses. Secrecy increasingly hides national policy, impedes coordination among agencies, bloats budgets and obscures foreign accords; secrecy throws into the dark our system of justice and derails the balance of power between the executive branch and the rest of government.

This film is about the vast, invisible world of government secrecy. By focusing on classified secrets, the government's ability to put information out of sight if it would harm national security, Secrecy explores the tensions between our safety as a nation, and our ability to function as a democracy.

The film screened at Sundance earlier this month. Got a few good reviews. Perhaps someone should inquire about getting the film (and its makers) for ALA Annual in Anaheim?

Any recommendations? Good, reasonably-priced hotels? Places to eat? Bookstores? Things I can't miss? Thank you so much for any assistance ...

The title of the article pretty much says it all: A Library Exhibit Not for the Children's Room (warning - sexual themes!).

San Francisco has renovated its famous and infamous Main Library.

Sniff.

One of those announcements -- CC is joining forces with public.resource.org to continue the fight to free government documents -- they are starting, as mentioned previously with federal caselaw. Legal Commons ... it's not just a concept ... it will be a norm (or, dare I say it ... a brand?). More info as it becomes available ...

Carl Malamud and PublicResource.Org are doing wonderful, wonderful things. Here's something very new and very useful:

Public.Resource.Org and Fastcase, Inc. announced ... that they will release a large and free archive of federal case law, including all Courts of Appeals decisions from 1950 to the present and all Supreme Court decisions since 1754. The archive will be public domain and usable by anyone for any purpose.

...

The agreement calls for definitive paperwork approved by both parties within 30 days with Public.Resource.Org making developer snapshots of the archive available in early 2008. Public.Resource.Org is represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation in this transaction. The cases will be marked with a new Creative Commons mark—CC-Ø—that signals that there are no copyrights or other related rights attached to the content.

But, this is the first writing I've done "in a legal context" that is being seen by more than just a single prof. So, this is a bit of a milestone for me. I think the term of art for the appropriate response is ... Woot!