Take Action Against PIPA

For months, AALL has expressed opposition to two overreaching bills that aim to address the real issue of international intellectual property infringement, piracy and counterfeiting on the Internet – the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act (PROTECT IP Act, or PIPA), S.968, and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), H.R. 3261. AALL strongly believes that these bills threaten free speech, free expression and the freedom of the Internet.

Now, we need your help. On Tuesday, January 24, the Senate is scheduled to hold a cloture vote on S. 968. AALL needs you to write to your Senators and tell them to vote NO on PIPA.

We’ve provided you with a draft message that you can edit, and it only takes a few minutes to take action. Please join us in telling your Senators that while online infringement may be a problem, PIPA is not the answer.

AALL ACTION ALERT: Take Action to Oppose H.R. 3699, a Bill to Prevent Public Access to Taxpayer-funded Research

Please take a moment to respond to our important new action alert in opposition to H.R. 3699, the Research Works Act. This bill, which was introduced on December 16 by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA-49) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY-14), would reverse the National Institutes of Health’s popular Public Access Policy, which AALL strongly supports, and prevent other Federal agencies from developing similar policies to provide timely public access to taxpayer-funded research.

Please help ensure that members of the House of Representatives – especially those who sit on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, where the bill has been referred – understand that this bill would be a step in the wrong direction for open access.

Please take action and tell your Representative that the public must have access to research funded by taxpayer dollars.

December Issue of the Washington E-Bulletin

The December issue of the Washington E-Bulletin is now available on AALLNET. Here is the Table of Contents:

STAY INFORMED/GET INVOLVED: News and Action Alerts

• Celebrating 2011 and Preparing for a Busy 2012
• Congress Passes Increased Levels of Funding for Government Printing Office
• Senate Fails to Confirm Boarman as Public Printer
• AALL Submits Comments on Colorado Public Domain Citation Format
• GPO and Office of Federal Register Receive Award for FederalRegister.gov
• President Obama Completes Nominations to Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board
• House Judiciary Committee Holds Markup of Stop Online Piracy Act

FREE TIME WELL SPENT: Further Reading and Resources for the Info Policy Junkie

• New Year’s Greetings from the Law Librarian Congress
• Report Finds Agencies Process More FOIA Requests
• “FOIA Ombudsman” Launches New Website
• House Expands Access to XML

AALL GRC Seeks Nominations for the 2012 Public Access to Government Information and Oakley Advocacy Awards

Each year, AALL recognizes individuals and/or groups with our Public Access to Government Information and Robert L. Oakley Advocacy Awards.  If you would like to nominate an individual or group for one or both of these prestigious awards, please send your nominations to Government Relations Committee Chair Catherine Dunn by February 1, 2012.

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AALL Public Access to Government Information (PAGI) Award

Since 1999, AALL has presented the PAGI Award annually to recognize individuals or organizations that have made significant contributions to protect and promote greater public access to government information.

Past recipients include Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) (2011); the Legal Information Institute (LII) at Cornell Law School (2010); the Sunlight Foundation (2009); and Gary Bass, Executive Director, OMB Watch (2008).

Recipients of the PAGI award may be any individual or organization. Members of the Government Relations Office of AALL are not eligible. Judging criteria includes:

• A contribution that significantly improves public access to government information, thereby increasing the public’s knowledge about the workings of government. The award is given in accordance with AALL’s mission to provide leadership in the field of legal information and to promote equal access to government information. The award will reflect this by honoring the achievements of those who have championed public access.
• The extent to which the individual or organization has had a positive impact on protecting and promoting public access to governmental information.
• The extent to which the effort advances the AALL mission and Government Relations Policy.

Please visit http://www.aallnet.org/main-menu/Member-Resources/AALLawards/award-information.html for further details.

Robert L. Oakley Advocacy Award

Established in 2008, the Oakley Advocacy Award is given to recognize an AALL member or group for outstanding advocacy work contributing significantly to the AALL policy agenda at the federal, state, local, or international level. The award honors the memory of Robert L. Oakley, AALL’s Washington affairs representative from 1989-2007, who received the first award posthumously in 2008.

Additional past recipients include Joan Bellistri, Director and Law Librarian, Anne Arundel County Public Law Library in Annapolis, MD (2011); the Ohio Regional Association of Law Libraries (ORALL) County Law Library Special Interest Group (2010); and Richard J. McKinney, Assistant Law Librarian, Federal Reserve Board Law Library (2009).

AALL members and groups, with the exception of current members of the Government Relations Committee, are eligible for this award. Nominees must have made a significant contribution to the advocacy agenda of the Association.  Judging criteria includes:

• A significant contribution to the advocacy agenda of the Association. The award is given in accordance with AALL’s mission to provide leadership in the field of legal information and to promote equal access to government information. The award will reflect this by honoring the achievements of those who have been especially energetic or effective advocates of this mission.
• The extent to which the individual or group has been an active advocate for law libraries and legal information at the federal, state, or local level.
• The extent to which the advocacy advances the AALL mission and Government Relations Policy.

Additional details are available at http://www.aallnet.org/main-menu/Member-Resources/AALLawards/award-oakley.html.

Both awards will be presented during the Annual Public Policy Update on Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at 8:30 AM at the AALL Annual Meeting in Boston, MA.  To learn more about the PAGI and Oakley awards as well as the advocacy work of the Government Relations Committee and the Government Relations Office, please visit us at http://www.aallnet.org/main-menu/Advocacy/aallwash

“FOIA Ombudsman” Launches New Website

AALL strongly supported passage of the OPEN Government Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-175), which established the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) within the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). OGIS is charged with recommending policy changes to improve the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process, offering mediation services to help resolve disputes between requestors and agencies, and acting as ombudsman by responding to the needs of the diverse FOIA community.

OGIS recently launched a new website to help requestors and agencies more easily navigate the FOIA process, including how to move past any stumbling blocks. New features include:

• The OGIS Library: Search common FOIA terms and concepts
• Make an OGIS Request: Ask for assistance from OGIS staff
• Search OGIS Cases: Review, in real-time, the status of OGIS cases
• Suggest FOIA Improvements: Offer your ideas on how to improve FOIA

Kudos to OGIS for adding these enhancements, and for continuing to find innovative ways to operate more effectively, efficiently and transparently.

November Issue of the Washington E-Bulletin

The November issue of the Washington E-Bulletin is now available on AALLNET. Here is the Table of Contents:

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Submit Your Nominations for the 2012 Public Access to Government Information and Oakley Advocacy Awards
• Spectrum Article Highlights Effective Advocacy Methods

STAY INFORMED/GET INVOLVED: News and Action Alerts

• Update on the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act
• AALL’s Bill Tracking Chart
• Government Relations Committee Adds to Collection of Advocacy One-Pagers
• Senate Rejects Anti-Net Neutrality Measure
• President Obama Issues New Memorandum on Records Management
• New Registry of “Controlled Unclassified Information” Aims to Standardize Markings

FREE TIME WELL SPENT: Further Reading and Resources for the Info Policy Junkie

• Nixon Library Releases Grand Jury Testimony
• CRS Report on Privacy and Civil Liberties Board
• 2011 Wickersham Award Winner Justice John Paul Stevens Interview on YouTube
• Virtual Tour of the Law Library of Congress Reading Room

AALL’s Government Relations Office and Chapters: A Perfect Partnership

The Government Relations Office (GRO) relies on AALL’s chapters to track key legislation and trends at the state level. When an issue arises, chapter leaders are encouraged to contact the GRO so that we can offer advice, help draft letters or testimony, and reach out to stakeholder groups for support. In turn, AALL relies on our chapters to speak up when we need help influencing policy at the federal level.

As Tip O’Neill once said, “All politics is local.” The relationships that AALL and chapter members develop with their elected officials at the federal and state levels, and the expertise that they bring to those relationships, is the key to our success.

Our advocacy partnership works because it’s a two-way street. The GRO offers support when an issue arises at the state level. For example, earlier this year we coordinated efforts with the Dallas Association of Law Librarians (DALL), Houston Area Law Librarians (HALL) and Southwestern Association of Law Libraries (SWALL) on a letter to express concerns about a proposal  to eliminate funding for the Texas State Law Library. In addition, as our case study describes, AALL worked closely with the Southern New England Law Librarians Association (SNELLA) in 2009/2010 to oppose the closures of Connecticut’s courthouse libraries. Our coordinated effort helped gain more than 1,100 signatures on AALL’s petitions to oppose the closures and garnered the support of the state and local bar associations who helped us in our efforts to save the libraries.

The GRO also turns to chapters to apply pressure at the federal level where it is needed most. We draft letters for the chapter president to sign, send you action alerts to forward to your members, and ask you to speak up when an important issue arises. For example, we recently asked chapters to contact Members of Congress in support of funding for the Government Printing Office.

The partnership between the GRO and chapters is facilitated by Government Relations Committee “liaisons,” who are members of the Government Relations Committee that work with their assigned chapters to form personal relationships and establish a channel of communication between the Government Relations Office, Government Relations Committee, and all of our chapters. AALL also recently launched a new listserv for chapter leaders that will help us stay informed about what is happening at the state level and help chapter leaders connect with each other around shared concerns. This listserv includes Chapter Presidents, Vice Presidents, Government Relations/Legislative Committee Chairs and the Government Relations Office staff.

The GRO also offers resources to help chapters establish effective Government Relations Committees. AALL’s Advocacy Toolkit includes sections on creating effective Government Relations/Legislative Committees, examples of letters chapters have sent to government officials, and case studies that describe — step-by-step — successful advocacy efforts at the state level. In addition, the GRO and Government Relations Committee participate in an annual Chapter Leadership Roundtable: Government Relations at AALL’s Annual Meeting to discuss the latest issues with chapter members.

To get more involved in your chapter’s advocacy efforts, contact your chapter’s Government Relations Committee Chair. To start a new committee, please email AALL’s Interim Director of Government Relations Emily Feltren. Your contributions will make a difference!

Senate Rejects Net Neutrality Measure

In a victory for net neutrality, the Senate today voted against S.J. Res 6, the resolution that would have overturned the Federal Communications Commission’s recent net neutrality rules. Thank you to all of you who called your Senators to urge them to vote No on this problematic resolution!

Earlier in the week, the White House released a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) reiterating President Obama’s support for net neutrality and pledging that the President would veto S.J. Res 6 if it came to his desk. The SAP states:

Disapproval of the rule would threaten those values and cast uncertainty over those innovative new businesses that are a critical part of the Nation’s economic recovery. It would be ill-advised to threaten the very foundations of innovation in the Internet economy and the democratic spirit that has made the Internet a force for social progress around the world.

The Senate voted 52-46, along party lines. Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) did not vote.

The FCC’s rules are scheduled to take effect on November 20, but several pending lawsuits may delay their implementation. We will keep you updated as developments occur.

Contact Your Senators NOW – Ask Them to Vote NO on Net Neutrality Resolution, S.J. Res 6

[This post was updated on November 8]

The Senate is expected to vote this week on a resolution of disapproval, S.J. Res 6, which would repeal the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) net neutrality rules and strip the FCC of its authority to implement net neutrality.

Please call your Senators today and ask them to vote NO on S.J. Res 6. Because of the short notice, it is important that you call, rather than email, your Senators. The Government Relations Committee and Government Relations Office have posted a new one-pager on why net neutrality matters to law libraries.

The House passed an identical resolution (H.J. Res 37) in April. The FCC’s net neutrality rules are set to take effect on November 20. It is very important that you contact your Senators now to ask them to vote NO on S.J. Res 6. The vote is expected to be very close, so your calls will make a difference.

October Issue of the Washington E-Bulletin

The October issue of the Washington E-Bulletin is now available on AALLNET. Here is the Table of Contents:

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

• AALL Launches Legislative Action Center

STAY INFORMED/GET INVOLVED: News and Action Alerts

• New Advocacy One-Pagers on AALLNET
• Final Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act Released
• New Collection on FDsys: Federal Court Opinions
• Sen. Akaka Introduces Bill to Update 1974 Privacy Act
• Ten Year Anniversary of the USA PATRIOT Act, and “Secret Law”
• National Archive’s Electronic Records Archives Lacks Full-Text Search
• Whistleblower Protection Bill Advances in Senate

OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY: Chapter News

• AALL Introduces Chapter Government Relations Listserv

FREE TIME WELL SPENT: Further Reading and Resources for the Info Policy Junkie

• Videos from Cameras in the Courts Pilot Project Now Available
•  “Gold Mouse” Awards for Congressional Websites
• Increases in Constituent Communications Shifts Office Resources