DoJ - Making Data Public Would 'Crash System'

orthogonal writes "The Justice Department today denied Freedom of Information Act requests to make public data on foreign lobbyists, claiming that '[i]mplementing such a request risks a crash that cannot be fixed and could result in a major loss of data, which would be devastating'. The requestor responded that '[t]his was a new one on us. We weren't aware there were databases that could be destroyed just by copying them,' Bob Williams of the Center for Public Integrity said Tuesday. Maybe we should tell John Ashcroft about open source database and copying solutions?"

Comments

Response Conflicts with the Law?

[Jtheletter]

I don't pretend to have a full understanding of the Freedom of Information Act, but isn't there a whole section detailing reasons that a request can be turned down? I know the obvious ones such as endangering national security (as if that weren't an excuse they could stretch a mile anyway), or the like, but I seriously doubt that a request could legally be denied on the basis of GROSS INCOMPETANCE and LACK OF JOB SKILLS on the part of the person fulfilling the request.

That's like a request being denied because the clerk was too tired to go down in the basement to find the files.

If fulfilling the request somehow breaks something, then the response should be to fix the damn thing and then fulfill the request.

Re:A New Low

[letxa2000]

Don't pay taxes - simply donate to a non-profit that you support and take the tax credit.

Tax credit? Correct me if I'm wrong, but donations to non-profits result in taxable income deductions, not tax credits, don't they? If they are tax credits then if you have a $1000 tax bill you can pay zero by donating $1000 to a non-profit. If it's a deduction then if you have a $1000 tax bill on $10,000 taxable income, a $1000 deduction makes your taxable income $9000 on which you still have to pay $900.

Unfortunately, I don't think you can get out of paying taxes by giving it to a non-profit instead. If you could I think most of us would opt out of paying taxes and just give it all to some local charity we approve of.

Re:Well, we could...

[Ralph Wiggam]

In March the Solicitor General argued in front of the Supreme Court that US troops would never humiliate or torture foreign inmates because they were well disciplined and well supervised. This was 6 months after the Red Cross had told the Pentagon about Abu Ghraib abuses and 4 months after the Army had investigated it. Administration officials have misled Congress repeatedly.

-B

Re:Well, we could...

[Auckerman]

Oooooh, a flame war on a powder keg, I want some. I've been maxed Karma for years, I could use a -1 mod.

Ex 21:22-25
"When men fight, and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage results, but no other misfortune ensues, the one responsible shall be fined according as the woman's husband may exact from him, the payment to be based on reckoning, But if other misfortune ensues, the penalty shall be life for a life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foor, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise."

The fetus is the property of the husband is merely worth a fine if destroyed. If the woman is killed, the person who killed her is to be killed.

I'm pro-life, not a Christian, Muslim or Jew. The Christian Bible is silent on abortion and it can be inferred that at least one source writer of the Tanak saw a difference between the life of a fetus and the mother. Get your religion straight, it's embarassing.

Funny you should mention that ...

[A nonymous Coward]

From your post ...

Please equate Ashcroft to being a "Nazi,"

From the FA ...

The Center for Public Integrity sought information about lobbying activities available under the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act, a 1938 law passed in response to German propaganda before World War II.

At the time (1938), for those of you too young to know, Germany was run by the Nazis.

I know there's a conspiracy in there somewhere, but I'd probably have to file a FOI request to find it.

Re:Well, we could...

[goon america]

I watched him do it to a Congressional investigation a couple weeks ago

A streaming video is worth a thousand words. Thank you, Daily Show!

Data available via ANALOG?

[rm3friskerFTN]

From the AP article in question one finds a DOJ link that was most interesting:

Foreign Agents Registration Unit (FARA) Counterespionage Section [these are the people who evidently maintain the database in question]

The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Unit administers the FARA and maintains a public office to make all registration materials available to the public. In addition, it administers and/or provides advice for certain other statutes related to either matters requiring registration with or notification to the Attorney General.

Public information (ANALOG only cause they use Sperry-Univacs rather than FAA vacuum tube computers - feel safer?) relating to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) can be obtained in person at the FARA Registration Unit Public Office located at:

Department of Justice Registration Unit 1400 New York Avenue, N.W. 1st Floor - Public Office Suite 100 Washington, D.C. 20005

Researching Hours: 11 AM - 3 PM Mon. - Fri.
Filing Hours: 8:30 AM - 5 PM Mon. - Fri.

Having worked at NASA JPL many years ago, I sympathize with the task of trying to move data between Sperry-Univac 1100 written tapes, onto a PR1ME 850 and thence to a NEC 8088-ish PC (ms-dos 3?) with a 5-in floppy AFTER failing with the OCR equipment