Newsgroups: comp.infosystems.gis
Date:         Wed, 15 Apr 1992 23:44:11 EDT
              <GIS-L@UBVM.BITNET>
From:         James P Love <LOVE%PUCC.BITNET@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU>
Subject:      owens bill fact sheet
X-To:         gis-l@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu

Taxpayer Assets Project
FACT SHEET
March 31, 1992

                             HR 3459
       THE IMPROVEMENT OF INFORMATION ACCESS ACT (IIA ACT)


On October 1, 1991 Representative Major Owens (D-NY) introduced
HR 3459, the Improvement of Information Access Act (IIA Act).
This bill would greatly broaden access to public information by
addressing the following issues:


AGENCY MANDATES TO DISSEMINATE INFORMATION

Federal agencies would be given an unambiguous mandate to use
modern computer technologies to disseminate federal information.
Agencies would be required to use national computer networks,
such as the INTERNET, as well as depository libraries and other
distribution channels that improve public access.  Agencies would
also have a responsibility to provide adequate documentation,
software, indexes, or other resources that will broaden public
access to government information.

STANDARDS

Agencies would be required to disseminate information products
and services in standardized record formats, and report every
year on their progress in developing or adopting standards for a
wide range of issues, including software query commands.  The
National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) and the
National Records and Archives Administration (NARA) are required
to develop and periodically revise voluntary performance
standards for public access to government records.

PRICING

The IIA Act would set a government wide limit on the prices the
federal government can charge on information products and
services.   This price limit would be the incremental cost of
dissemination, which is defined to exclude the costs of data
collection.  Agencies would not be allowed to impose royalties or
other fees on the redissemination of federal government
information.


PUBLIC NOTICE

Perhaps most important of all, the IIA Act would make federal
management of information resources much more democratic.  Every
year all federal agencies would be required to publish a report
which describes:

-    plans to introduce or discontinue information products and
     services,

-    efforts to develop or implement standards for file and
     record formats, software query command structures, and other
     matters that make information easier to obtain and use,

-    the status of agency efforts to create and disseminate
     comprehensive indexes or bibliographies of their information
     products and services,

-    how the public may access the agencies information,

-    plans for preserving access to electronic information that
     is stored in technologies that may be superseded or
     obsolete, and

-    agency plans to keep the public aware of its information
     resources, services, and products.


Agencies would be required to solicit public comments on this
plan, including comments on the types of information collected
and disseminated, the agency's methods of storing information,
their outlets for disseminating information, the prices they
charge for information, and the "validity, reliability,
timeliness, and usefulness to the public of the information."
The agency would be required to summarize the comments it
received and report each year what it had done to respond to the
comments received in the previous year.


Organizations supporting the IIA Act include:

American Library Association
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
Electronic Frontier Foundation
GT Publications, Inc., Sacramento CA (Publisher of Government
     Technology)
Institute for Public Policy and Business Research, University of
     Kansas
Public Citizen
Special Libraries Association
Taxpayer Assets Project
Technical Network Products, Inc., San Jose, CA


WHAT YOU CAN DO

The most important thing which can be done is to enlist
additional cosponsors for the legislation.  Write your
congressional delegation a brief letter describing why you think
HR 3459 is needed and specifically ask that they cosponsor the
bill.  Points that you might raise include the following:

-    The legislation would broaden public access to government
     information.

-    The bill requires federal agencies to recognize that the
     computer age has raised many new issues regarding public
     access to government information.

-    Modern computer technologies should provide new
     opportunities for citizens to receive information from
     government databases that they have already paid for as
     taxpayers.

-    While new computer technologies have made it far easier and
     cheaper for agencies to store and collect information, many
     federal agencies refuse to pass those savings along to
     citizens, and charge outrageous prices for information
     stored in electronic formats.  [For example, the Bureau of
     the Census charges $250 for its TIGER CD-ROMs, and the
     Federal Reserve System charges $560 per quarter for a single
     reel of tape with data from its bank call reports].

-    High prices for government information are anti-democratic.
     We should not ration the "right-to-know" to the most
     affluent members of our society.

-    Many federal agencies are insensitive about the public
     interest in the information resources they manage.  HR 3459
     is needed to direct federal agencies to take steps to make
     government information easier to receive and use.


We would also like to see additional endorsements for HR 3459.
Endorsements from small and large organizations are needed to
demonstrate the base of support for this legislation.  Even local
groups are important, since they demonstrate grass roots support.


WORKING TOGETHER

It is important to coordinate efforts on behalf of HR 3459 so
that letters of support or endorsements for HR 3459 will have a
broader audience.  Please send copies of your letters to Congress
(and the replies) or endorsements to the Taxpayer Assets Project
or the American Library Association.


OTHER IMPORTANT PUBLIC ACCESS LEGISLATION

Other important public access bills include:

     GPO WINDO

HR 2772, introduced by Representative Charlie Rose (D-NC), would
set up a Wide Information Network for Data Online (WINDO) through
the Government Printing Office (GPO).  The WINDO would provide
one-stop-shopping for online access to hundreds if not thousands
of federal databases and information systems.  The public will be
asked to make annual suggestions on the databases that will be
available through the WINDO.  There is already substantial
interest in providing access to the SEC's EDGAR system of
corporate disclosure filings, the House of Representatives LEGIS
system, and Department of Justice JURIS system, and the
Department of State Dispatch, just to mention a few.  The WINDO
would be available for free at 1,400 federal depository libraries
and also through subscriptions (priced at dissemination costs)
for those who want online access from their homes or offices.

     Electronic FOIA

S. 1940, introduced by Senators Leahy (D-VT) and Brown (R-CO)
would broaden citizen rights to receive access to electronic
versions of agency records, when citizens submit a Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) request.


                         ---------------

For more information about public access to federal government
information, contact:

Taxpayer Assets Project             American Library Association
  Washington Office                   Washington Office
P.O. Box 19367                      110 Maryland Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20036                Washington, DC 20002-5675
voice:  202-387-8030                voice: 202-547-4440
fax:    202-234-5176                fax:   202-547-7363
internet:  tap@capital.com
=================================================================

James Love, Director               VOICE:    609-683-0534
Taxpayer Assets Project            FAX:      202-234-5176
7-Z Magie, Faculty Road            bitnet:   Love@pucc.bitnet
Princeton, NJ 08540                internet: Love@pucc.princeton.edu
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU