Summary of Electronic Public Information Newsletter Volume 4 Number 3 1994

Summary of Electronic Public Information Newsletter

Volume 4 Number 3 1994

EPIN Summary - Vol. 4, No. 3
SA1250403
From: James McDonough 
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     SUMMARY OF ELECTRONIC PUBLIC INFORMATION NEWSLETTER
		  VOL. 4, NO. 3; February 11, 1994
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INDEX:

1. EFF, CPSR ATTACK CLINTON ADMINISTRATION ON ENCRYPTION ISSUE
2. OMB DEPUTY DIRECTOR RIVLIN DEFENDS FEDERAL AGENCY PRINTING
3. APPEALS COURTS AGREES TO  DISSEMINATE DECISIONS VIA FBB
4. TAX ANALYSTS FILES SUIT IN FEDERAL COURT TO GET JURIS
5. FY 1995 FEDERAL BUDGET AVAILABLE IN ELECTRONIC FORM

1. EFF, CPSR ATTACK CLINTON ADMINISTRATION ON ENCRYPTION ISSUE:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Computer
Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) this month began
organizing public opinion to oppose the Clinton Administration's
decision to approve the Clipper Chip encryption scheme, stating it
could lead to pervasive violation of a citizen's right to privacy.
In an open letter (2/7) on the Internet, EFF Executive Director
Jerry Berman stated, "If the government succeeds in this effort,
the resulting blow to individual freedom and privacy could be
immeasurable." The CPSR=FEunder the leadership of Marc Rotenburg,
head of its Washington Office=FEis trying to mobilize the Internet
community against the proposal. CPSR has sent an alert to 40
Internet newsgroups asking them to join the debate on the Clipper
Clip.

2. OMB DEPUTY DIRECTOR RIVLIN DEFENDS FEDERAL AGENCY PRINTING:
Alice Rivlin, Deputy Director of the Office of Management and
Budget, appeared (2/3) before the Senate Rules and Administration
Committee to hold the line on the administration's position that
executive agencies be allowed to do their own printing. This is the
same position OMB took last year with the introduction of H.R.
3400, even though the bill was substantially modified by the House.
Rivlin defended the administration position on the basis that the
increased competition among the executive agencies would drive down
printing costs. At the same time, she reiterated the thesis first
put forth in the National Performance Review that the Government
Printing Office monopoly grip on government printing leads to
higher printing costs. The federal government spends approximately
$1 billion a year on printing.

3. APPEALS COURTS AGREES TO  DISSEMINATE DECISIONS VIA FBB: The
Government Printing Office (GPO) and the U.S. Courts of Appeal have
apparently reached an agreement to disseminate slip opinions
through the GPO's Federal Bulletin Board (FBB). According to the
agreement, the depository libraries would received the Appeal
decisions free of charge from the FBB. The agreement was reached
after negotiations between the Administration of the U.S. Courts
and the Joint Committee on Printing. Nevertheless, Steve Mora of
the U.S. Courts Administration reported this week that although
some of 12 U.S. Appeals Courts are ready to electronically supply
their decisions, the FBB is apparently not ready to received the
information. Judy Russell, head of the GPO's Office of Electronic
Information Dissemination Services, said in a telephone interview
last week that a misunderstanding as arisen between the GPO and the
Courts Administration because she said GPO was waiting on the
Courts. Both parties are now again communicating and project is
going forward, Russell said.=20

4. TAX ANALYSTS FILES SUIT IN FEDERAL COURT TO GET JURIS: Tax
Analysts, a non-profit entity dedicated to the dissemination of
federal tax information, has filed a suit in federal court to force
the Department of Justice (DOJ) to turn over the JURIS database,
which DOJ shut down at the end of last year. After the suit was
filed on Jan. 11, the West Publishing Company joined the DOJ as
defendants in the case. The suit was the result of a DOJ denial of
a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request Tax Analysts had filed
in December. The suit was filed by Washington Attorney William A.
Dobrovir before the U.S. District Court for the District of
Columbia.=20

5. FY 1995 FEDERAL BUDGET AVAILABLE IN ELECTRONIC FORM: For the
first time the entire U.S. budget is available to the public in
electronic format. The U.S. Department of Commerce in cooperation
with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) produced the Fiscal
Year 1995 Budget in electronic format using compact disc-read only
memory (CD-ROM) and on-line computer delivery methods. The CD-ROM
versions of the budget can be ordered from the Department of
Commerce for $30.00, $24 less than the comparable printed volumes.
The CD-ROM will include the budget documents as well as copies of
the Adobe Acrobat Reader for MS-DOS and Windows operating systems.
A set of diskettes containing the Acrobat Reader will be supplied
to users of Macintosh computers. Also, the complete Budget,
including the Appendix, will appear on the February 1994 issue of
Commerce's National Economic, Social, and Environmental Data Bank
(NESE-DB) CD-ROM which will be available in late February.

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EPIN: For more information on the complete ELECTRONIC PUBLIC
INFORMATION NEWSLETTER and subscription rates contact:

James McDonough
Electronic Public Information Newsletter
epin@access.digex.net
Tel:/Fax: (301) 365-3621


Submitted by: BUBL Administrator  (cijs27@vaxb.strathclyde.ac.uk)
               Wed, 2 Mar 94 13:20 GMT