Open government

Can a federal court decide whether the White House is breaking presidential record-keeping laws, such as by using encrypted apps that automatically erase messages once they’re read or issuing executive orders to avoid creating a paper trail accessible to the public? Government attorneys told a federal judge in Washington that the answer is a sweeping “no,” in a case that could help determine whether open-government laws are keeping pace with frontiers in communications technology.

While I previously proposed fixes to improve the circulation process by making the documents public and addressing what amounts to stale items and those converted to Open Meeting items, we also need to update and improve the process for voting circulation items.  Unlike items disposed of at the Commission’s monthly Open Meetings, items circulated to Commissioners for consideration outside of the meetings (those on the Circulation List) have no voting deadline until they enter “must vote” status.

[Commentary]  Bill Gates is setting aside $80 million and over 24,000 acres to build one. Over in India, they’re planning to construct over 100 of them. They’re smart cities (SC), and they’ve been in development longer than you might think. This landscape of the future is gaining momentum as it enters the third stage of its evolution: the “city as a service.” The United Nations predicts a world population of 9.7 billion by 2050, leading to an urban population boom of 63%.

[Commentary] Releasing the network neutrality draft order early had some unintended consequences. It created a flurry of activity when everybody with an opinion felt they had to re-litigate their arguments. Far too many chose it as an opportunity to hurl invectives at those with differing opinions, contributing to the downfall of productive debate. Despite the increasing vitriol during the weeks before the vote, releasing the draft order prior to the Federal Communications Commission’s vote is one key to making the FCC regulatory process more transparent.

Michael Allman is running for Congress as a Republican. But if his constituents lean left of him on a particular issue before Congress, that’s how Allman will vote. That’s because Allman is running on a direct democracy platform: For every issue, voters in his district will be able to use a blockchain-enabled website to securely log their opinions, and Allman will follow the will of the people.

Broadband providers--including both wired and wireless providers--complete Form 477 to report where they offer service, as well as what speeds they offer and the technologies they use, among other information. The data collected through Form 477 constitute a critical resource for the National Telecommunication & Information Administration, as well as other policymakers and researchers who are interested in understanding Internet access in the United States.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced the launch of an online dashboard to provide the public with more information on the agency’s work. Available immediately on the agency’s website, fcc.gov, this resource will help consumers access reports and graphics on FCC workloads, pending actions, and other accountability matrices, and more easily access Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) materials.

Federal Communications Commission General Counsel Thomas Johnson said the agency must “respectfully decline” requests from New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman as part of the AG’s investigation into the fraudulent use of names on comments in the net neutrality rollback proceeding. Johnson said revealing the logs of IP addresses for some comments raises “significant personal privacy concerns” and could also endanger the security of the commission’s comment system.

On November 22, 2017, you [Jarrod Sharp] appealed the denial of your application for a fee waiver in connection with your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, FOIA Control No. 2018-067. By this letter, we dismiss your appeal. On October 26, 2017, you filed a FOIA request with the Commission, seeking 1) a copy of the “‘Restoring Internet Freedom’ plan,” 2) documents regarding the Commission’s release of the plan, and 3) documents discussing the Commission’s DDOS attack claims. This request was assigned FOIA Control No. 2018-067.