[govinfo] GovInfo News 7-13-2007

- Government Secrecy: Decisions Without Democracy
- Lawmakers block access to gun sales data
- It's Sensitive, But It's Available
- LegiStorm
- Subpoenas Authorized for RNC Documents on Firings
- Map of the Blogosphere
Patrice McDermott, Director
OpenTheGovernment.org
www.openthegovernment.org
202.332.OPEN (6736)
- GOVERNMENT SECRECY: DECISIONS WITHOUT DEMOCRACY
By David Banisar. Preface by Bob Barr and John Podesta.

OpenTheGovernment.org and People for the American Way have issued an updated 
version of the 1987 primer on the expansion of executive power and government 
secrecy. The 1987 version documented the rise at the height of the Cold War; 20 
years later, we face the same problems. The book also looks at the 
opportunities and challenges provided by the advent of digital government.
Link: Report
***
- LAWMAKERS BLOCK ACCESS TO GUN SALES DATA
By Andrew Taylor
Jul 12, 6:37 PM ET

Pro-gun rights Democrats teamed with House Republicans on Thursday to block 
local governments and law enforcement agencies from gaining routine access to 
gun-purchasing data.
The House Appropriations Committee defeated two attempts by gun control 
advocates to strip four-year-old restrictions on the use of information from 
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives tracing gun sales. more [AP 
and Jurist]


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- IT'S SENSITIVE, BUT IT'S AVAILABLE
By Allan Holmes
July 12, 2007


You don't need the technical skills of a hacker to get your hands on sensitive 
military secrets; you just need a Web browser and time to sift through long 
search results, according to a survey of servers conducted by the Associated 
Press.  "In a survey of servers run by agencies or companies involved with the 
military and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Associated Press found 
dozens of documents that officials refused to release when asked directly, 
citing troop security." more

Link: AP article

***
- LegiStorm
"A company dedicated to transparency in government. We gather information about 
the U.S. Congress and make it available to the public. As a non-partisan group, 
we exist to exhibit the facts and disseminate public information about our 
nation's elected officials and their staff. We are transparency's sidekick." 
[They are also a sister company to a company that sells "technical, policy and 
strategy papers from the Pentagon" and CRS, and provides a searchable US patent 
database] more [thanks to beSpacific.com]

***
- SUBPOENAS AUTHORIZED FOR RNC DOCUMENTS ON FIRINGS

A House Judiciary panel authorized a subpoena Thursday for Republican National 
Committee documents and e-mails related to the firing of nine U.S. attorneys. 
more [House Judiciary Committee]

***
- MAP OF THE BLOGOSPHERE

From Politico.com. You have to allow pop-ups from them for it to work.

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