From Beloit Daily News: MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A clash between a national conservative think tank and a Wisconsin group that advocates for open records is raising questions about how much of the public’s business can be conducted behind closed doors.
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From Law360: Law360, New York (June 10, 2013, 10:14 PM ET) — Less than two months remain before drug and device makers must report virtually every item of value — from speaker’s fees to pastrami sandwiches on rye — that they provide to doctors and teaching hospitals, and experts say compliance with the Affordable Care Act mandate will require extraordinary communication among the parties and plenty of technological muscle to gather data.
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Read More… from 5 tips for an airtight approach to ACA sunshine rule
From Forbes: Ashoka UK Communications Manager Felicity McLean (@flickmclean) caught up with three leading social entrepreneurs to chat about whether technology can and does open up governments, and if online communities can serve to transform societal interaction and cohesion for the better.
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Read More… from What tech can do for your health and your government
From Naple Daily News: A dozen bills dealing with public record exemptions were approved by state lawmakers during the 2013 legislative session. Here’s a quick look at those bills:
■ SB 4: Creates a temporary exemption for written referrals of possible ethics violations submitted to the state ethics commission.
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From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: A former student journalist at Georgia Perimeter College filed a lawsuit against the State Board of Regents Monday for failing to turn over public records concerning the school’s $25 million budget shortfall.
David Schick accused the University of System of Georgia of not complying with his open records request and for using delaying tactics.
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From Civic Source: Watchdog group the Sunlight Foundation will be offering civic minded startups and developers a chance at “OpenGov Grants.” The grant program will offer awards to successful applicants on a rolling basis throughout the year. The initiative was announced at the Personal Democracy Forum in New York City, on Friday.
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Read More… from Sunlight Foundation announces open government grant program
From Reuters: WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama's administration is likely to open a criminal investigation into the leaking of highly classified documents that revealed the secret surveillance of Americans' telephone and email traffic, U.S. officials said on Friday.
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Read More… from Government likely to open criminal probe into NSA leaks: officials
From ABQ Journal: Lincoln County has paid $125,000 in attorney fees to a weekly newspaper for violating the Inspection of Public Records Act in a lawsuit over documents relating to an investigation into Billy the Kid’s death and whether he was buried in Fort Sumner.
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Read More… from Billy the Kid records case costs taxpayers nearly $200K
From FCS: On Jan. 21, 2009, President Barack Obama's very first executive memorandum declared a commitment to "transparency and open government." Those principles led to the Digital Government Strategy, an open-data initiative and Data.gov — a repository that launched in May 2009 with 47 datasets and now offers more than 400,000.
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From Business Day: AS THE internet explodes in new markets and across different cultures, the role of a free press and the ability of journalists to sift through masses of new information to find the truth is a very important priority, the founder of the web Sir Tim Berners-Lee, says.
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Read More… from Freedom of press critical, says internet founder
