Freedom of Information?
Information Today, Vol. 22, No. 4, p. 17, April 2005
3 Pages Posted: 25 Jun 2010
Date Written: April 2005
Abstract
Section 105 of the Copyright Act says that most works created by the United States government are not subject to copyright and are automatically in the public domain. The First Amendment establishes not only a right to freedom of speech, but freedom of access to information in support of speech. History has told us, however, that while the government may not be able to copyright much of its information, there are a number of times and circumstances when the government protects its information by simply not making it available.
The abuses of the McCarthy era, civil rights battles and the Vietnam War led to the enactment of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which provided a presumptive right by citizens to the release of government documents, subject to only limited exemptions. The Act has been lauded for shining light into previously dingy government file cabinets and data files. However, there often remains a tension between those who seek this information and those within the government, who for good or ill reasons, prefer that information to remain locked away.
Keywords: Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, freedom of access, government information, public domain, United States, protected information, disclosure, national security, privacy, abuses, civil rights
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