Name: Open Access Should Include Open Courts
Brand: eff.org
SKU: eff-org-301
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Open Access Should Include Open Courts

preview

Email updates on news, actions,and events in your area.DEEPLINKS BLOGShare ItIt is a fundamental precept, at least in the United States, that the public should have access to the courts–including court records–and any departure from that rule must be narrow and well-justified. In a nation bound by the rule of law, the public must have the ability to know the law and how it is being applied. But for most of our nation’s history, that right didn’t mean much if you didn’t have the ability to get to the courthouse yourself.In theory, the PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) system should have changed all that. Though much-maligned for its user-unfriendly design, for more than 25 years PACER has made it possible for parties and the public to find all kinds of legal documents, from substantive briefs and judicial opinions to minor things like a notice of appearance. For those with the skill to navigate its millions of documents, PACER is a treasure trove of information about our legal system– .But using PACER takes more than skill–it takes money. Subject to some exceptions, the PACER system charges 10 cents a page to download a document, and that cost can add up fast. The money is supposed to cover the price of running the system, but &nbsp;And either way, those fees are an unfair barrier to access. Open access activists have to , and have managed to improve access to some of it. The government itself made some initial forays in the right direction a decade ago, but then retreated, claiming privacy and security concerns. A team of researchers has developed software, , that helps users automatically search for free copies of documents, and helps build up a free alternative database. Nonetheless, today most of PACER remains locked behind a paywall.It’s past time to tear that paywall down, and a bill now working its way through Congress, the bipartisan . The bill would&nbsp;provide public access to federal court records and improve the federal court’s online record system, eliminating PACER's paywall in the process. EFF and a coalition of civil liberties organizations, transparency groups, retired judges, and law libraries have joined together to push Congress and the U.S. Federal Courts to eliminate the paywall and expand access to these vital documents. (PDF) addressed to the Director of the Administrative Office of United States Courts, which manages PACER, the coalition calls on the AO not to oppose this important legislation.Passage of the bill would be a huge victory for transparency, due process and democratic accountability. This , EFF urges Congress and the courts to support this important legislation and&nbsp;remove the barriers that make PACER&nbsp;a&nbsp;gatekeeper to information, rather than the open path to public records that it ought to be.EFF is proud to celebrate.Share ItSAN FRANCISCO—The Internet Archive has asked a federal judge to rule in its favor and end a radical lawsuit, filed by four major publishing companies, that aims to criminalize library lending.The Internet Archive, headquartered in San Francisco, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit library which preserves and provides access to cultural artifacts...The joy of tinkering, making, and sharing is part of the human condition. In modern times, this creative freedom too often is stifled by secrecy as a means of monetization - from non-compete laws to quashing people’s right to repair the products they’ve already paid for.Adam Savage—the maker extraordinaire best...Update: An earlier version of this post described the UC Davis 'Equitable Access' program as it was implemented in Fall 2020. We have updated this post to clarify the changes made to the program in August 2021.It goes by many names, but no matter how you cut it, the new...In honor of , and particularly this year’s theme of structural equity, we wanted to highlight a project from the Internet Archive that is doing extraordinary work promoting access to knowledge. The bad news: that project is also . The good news: the Archive,...San Francisco—On Tuesday, October 12, at 12 pm PT, EFF Senior Staff Attorney Mitch Stoltz will speak at an online workshop convened by the UCLA Institute for Technology, Law &amp; Policy to explore the future of open source software. Registration for this free online event is .The possibility that...Major publishers want to censor research-sharing resource Sci-Hub from the internet, but archivists quickly respond to make that impossible. More than half of academic publishing is controlled by major publishers using burdensome paywalls. One project in particular, Sci-Hub, has threatened to break down this barrier by sharing articles without restriction...This is an guest post by , prototype engineer and open access advocate.After the world went into lockdown for COVID-19, Makers were suddenly confined to their workshops. Rather than idly wait it out, many of them decided to ...The sudden move to remote education by universities this year has forced the inevitable: the move to an online education. While most universities won’t be fully remote, having course materials online was already becoming the norm before the COVID-19 pandemic, and this year it has become mandatory for millions of...Not Just for COVID-19, But for the Next Crisis TooThe COVID-19 pandemic demands that governments, scientific researchers, and industry work together to bring life-saving technology to the public regardless of who can afford it. But even as we take steps to make medical technology and treatments available to everyone, we...This week, open and equitable access to the law got a bit closer. For many years, EFF, along with co-counsel at Fenwick &amp; West and attorney David Halperin, has in its quest to improve public access to the law — including standards, like the National Electrical...Share It

Email updates on news, actions,and events in your area.DEEPLINKS BLOGShare ItIt is a fundamental precept, at least in the United States, that the public should have access to the courts–including court records–and any departure from that rule must be narrow and well-justified. In a nation bound by the rule of law, the public must have the ability to know the law and how it is being applied. But for most of our nation’s history, that right didn’t mean much if you didn’t have the ability to get to the courthouse yourself.In theory, the PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) system...

public

Corynne McSherry

We're the Electronic Frontier Foundation. We defend your civil liberties in a digital world.

Open Access Should Include Open Courts

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS