- NSA Mobilizes Against Leaks - Group modifies preparedness Web site after DHS complains - 'Ransom' demand pays for free maps - OMB seeks FOIA info as part of annual e-gov update - NARA - Agency records schedules; availability Patrice McDermott, Director OpenTheGovernment.org 202-332-OPEN (6736) www.openthegovernment.org - NSA Mobilizes Against Leaks http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/ The National Security Agency has instructed all of its employees to "actively" watch for unauthorized disclosures of classified information in the press and online, and to report such disclosures to the authorities. [.] *** - Group modifies preparedness Web site after DHS complains http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0906/090706gsn1.htm DAILY BRIEFING September 7, 2006 By Jon Fox, Global Security Newswire In response to a request from the Homeland Security Department, the Federation of American Scientists has made its version of the government's emergency preparedness Web site slightly less identical to the original. Homeland Security claimed the use of the logo and design from its Web site, Ready.gov, by the federation for its site, ReallyReady.org, constituted theft of intellectual property. An intern at the organization spent her summer developing an alternate version of the government site -- one which the federation said contained more useful information and corrected deficiencies found in the Homeland Security site. She also wrote a lengthy critique of the DHS site. The work did not go unnoticed by the media, appearing in the Washington Post and elsewhere. Then came the letter from the government. The new site infringed on the department's intellectual property, according to a DHS lawyer. The sites just look too similar, the government claimed. [.] The main bones of contention were the color scheme, the check-mark logo and the wording on ReallyReady.org, all of which originally approximated the government's Web site. Homeland Security asked that they stop using the designs. [.] Intern Emily Hesaltine's analysis of Ready.gov - which is available on ReallyReady.org - criticized the government site for containing incorrect and incomplete information, generic advice and overly lengthy explanations. Hesaltine also noted the lack at the time of information available for people with disabilities or special needs. There are only 21 lines of emergency preparedness advice aimed at the disabled, she wrote, the same amount devoted to preparing one's pet for an emergency. [.] Since the federation launched its site in early August, at least two changes have apparently been made to government site. Ready.gov has added two new sections, one for people with disabilities and one for older Americans. . . . *** - 'Ransom' demand pays for free maps http://www.fcw.com/article95985-09-11-06-Print USGS policies made biker think creatively about getting maps BY Aliya Sternstein Published on Sept. 11, 2006 Two years ago, a mountain biker, frustrated because he could not find free, official topographic maps online, submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the U.S. Geological Survey. After USGS denied the request several times, the cyclist - Jared Benedict - decided to raise enough money to centralize the government's topographic maps online for free. USGS had told Benedict that he could buy the maps he needed from the agency, so he did. He purchased a hard drive containing more than 56,000 digital topographic maps from a USGS business partner and used his Web site to ask donors for a $1,600 "ransom" to cover the expense. "Donate or purchase maps on DVD to meet the ransom demand," Benedict urged readers of his Web site. "Once the $1,600 ransom is met, all maps will be handed over to the Internet Archive. The Internet Archive will make every map available for free download forever!" The Internet Archive, a nonprofit organization that offers access to historical collections in digital format, will eventually offer free public access to the maps. Benedict, a systems administrator in the information technology department at Dartmouth College, said he posted the ransom note the night of Aug. 27 and raised slightly more than he had asked - $1,700 within 24 hours. The digital topographic maps show physical features such as mountains and rivers, which is useful for hikers, students researching land change or businesses planning expansions. The maps are TIFFs with metadata files that enable geographic information system applications to use them. [. . .] *** - OMB seeks FOIA info as part of annual e-gov update http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/41820-1.html 08/25/06 -- 04:21 PM By Rob Thormeyer Agencies must update the Office of Management and Budget on their progress in implementing recent changes to the Freedom of Information Act. In an Aug. 25 memorandum http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/memoranda/fy2006/m06-25.pdf Karen Evans, OMB administrator for E-government and IT, said that as part of their annual update of e-government projects, agencies must also list the steps they have taken to comply with an executive order that directed the government to streamline FOIA processing. Agencies must submit a report to OMB each year on their implementation of e-government programs, which is later given to Congress, as directed under the E-Government Act of 2002. "This year, your report will comprise three specific components, and the first two are the same as last year," Evans wrote. "The third component addresses how your agency's information dissemination activities are coordinated with your FOIA operations." The December 2005 order required agencies to appoint a chief FOIA officer and make information about how they handle FOIA requests available online by June 2006. [.] ### From the Evans memo: 2. Describe your process for determining which information will be made available on your agency's public website and the Internet as required in Section 207(f)(2) of the Act. Your description must: . Describe your process for determining which government information the agency intends to make available and accessible to the public on the Internet and by other means; . Include a copy of the priorities and schedules for making your information available and accessible; . Explain how and when such final determinations, priorities, and schedules were available for public notice and comment; . Provide the link where final determinations, priorities, and schedules can be found on your principal Federal agency public website; and . Identify progress to date for permitting searching of all files intended for public use on the website, displaying search results in order of relevancy to search criteria, and providing response times appropriately equivalent to industry best practices. 3. Describe how your agency's information dissemination activities are coordinated with its FOIA operations in order to improve both access to and dissemination of government information to the public. Your description must include a link to your agency's Information Resources Management (IRM) Strategic Plan and FOIA Improvement Plan. [.] *** - National Archives and Records Administration NOTICES Agency records schedules; availability, 50473-50475 [E6-14123] http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/E6-14123.htm ###
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