The Internet's Public Domain: Access to Government Information on the Internet

Abstract

This article surveys the types and amounts of information that have been removed from the Internet since September 11th. Information has been removed in the name of national security as well as for reasons of seeming political expediency. After discussing the bases of some of the rationales for removing the information, and the legal underpinnings of continued access, the article suggests several forms of advocacy that could be used to return the information to the public's domain.

Keywords: FOIA, access to government information, security, classification, Freedom of Information Act

JEL Classification: K31