Privatization Limiting Access To Information

Knutsi sends us to the Federation of American Scientists' blog Secrecy News for a post on how privatization can affect access to research material. The blog tells how a Harvard researcher on the history of nuclear secrecy was denied access that would have been granted in the past. Some followup is in the comments to this reposting of the FAS story. "Los Alamos National Laboratory will no longer permit historians and other researchers to have access to its archival records because Los Alamos National Security (LANS), the private contractor that now operates the Lab, says it has 'no policy in place' that would allow such access."

Comments

Advice to Americans

[hey!]

Next time, elect a president who shows a minimum level of intellectual curiosity.

Next time, elect somebody who doesn't view intellectual freedom, with its open and vigorous disputes, as treasonous.

Next time, elect somebody who looks at uncomfortable facts as an opportunity to form a more accurate and mature world view, not a threat to his personal authority to define reality.

Re:If research is or was

[darjen]

Libertarians wouldn't call this privatization, either. This is still government-funded research done by government contractors. Libertarians would call this "corporate welfare."

Of course you are exactly right. The government monopoly over scientific research is what has led us to these unfortunate circumstances. I wonder why people insist on calling things like this "privitization". Are they ignorant or just plain dishonest? It's the same ballpark as forcing private social security acccounts or hiring security contractors to conduct wars.