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Documents

First release of documents related to Aaron Swartz

Kevin Poulsen of Wired has released the first 100 pages of documents related to the investigation about Aaron Swartz. These are the first of the documents released to him by the government. You can also download the PDF for the release directly. Note, it’s a big file.

The court case is still ongoing, as Poulsen notes. I have new filings for it, and will post a docket sometime in the next week or so. I’m behind on my docket postings.

I really appreciate Poulsen making these documents easily available. Not every reporter is good about this.

Categories
Documents

The FOIA Project

I discovered an amazingly rich site for information related to FOIA appeals and lawsuits: The FOIA Project.

From the site’s About page:

The goal of FOIAproject.org is to provide the public with timely and complete information about every instance in which the federal government grants or withholds records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Updated daily, this “FOIA accountability engine” now includes detailed information on every case that challenges government withholding in federal court. And we have started expanding coverage to decisions on FOIA administrative requests on an agency-by-agency basis.

The site was created to “shame” government agencies who, it deems, seek to skirt laws related to FOIA requests. I don’t agree that there’s a general plot among agencies to hide information from the citizens of the country, especially the agencies most often targeted (EPA comes to mind). At the same time, it is important to ensure that the Freedom of Information Act is implemented in deed, as well as word.

Regardless with whether you agree with the underlying premise of the site or not, The FOIA Project is a great place to access court documents for FOIA lawsuits.