Last night, the RTR board unanimously voted in out newest board member: say hello to genealogist Christopher Smothers (@uyrgenes)! He was the rock star behind our acquisition and first-ever publication of the Mississippi state death index a while ago. And more coming soon! 🙂
We tweet from time to time about the CFAA because there are lots of non-copyrighted historical records that are kinda-sorta accessible online through search engines or image galleries, but not yet through bulk download, so…
Big example: @nycrecords 😏
BREAKING: In 6-3 vote, Supreme Court narrows scope of Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, landmark cybercrime law, ruling that it doesn't cover situations where people who are authorized to access a computer system do so for improper reasons. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-783_k53l.pdf
The ironiest irony is that the police union also used copyright to block release of the training for how to respond to public records requests. (With that, I'ma going back on vacation) https://twitter.com/checklbpd/status/1397220615719956480
Good luck EFF. The public's right to know how police are trained to use force should trump any copyright a company put on the training it sells to the police. https://twitter.com/maassive/status/1397219052871901186
How can the #genealogy community work together to better advocate for record access?
Great minds at @ngsgenealogy @ReclaimTheRecs might be able to reflect on what’s already being done on that front.
@CarolinaGirlGen @blackprogen might have some thoughts too!
#familyhistory https://twitter.com/FamilySleuther/status/1398647054004539396
@AmyJohnsonCrow @leprchaunrabbit @ReclaimTheRecs It makes me wonder how many other similarly valuable record sets are caught up in the same legislative limbo. The genealogy community would benefit from centralized advocacy to identify these types of restricted records and advocate for legislative change. #mytwocents
As @CauseofActionDC argued, we must look to how the agency maintained the record in question before the request. That is now the law of the circuit.
D.C. Circuit rules DOJ violated #FOIA when it segmented records to avoid disclosure, but declines to invalidate DOJ guidance advising agencies to do just that. A partial solid win in an ongoing battle. @CauseofActionDC @RPMulvey #appellatetwitter
https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/630C08273BF7503A852586E70050834B/$file/20-5182-1900746.pdf
Reclaim The Records is an IRS-recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Our EIN is 81-4985446. Contact us at [email protected]
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