donal brown

Group challenges UC Berkeley’s restrictions of use of “California” in naming student organizations

The University of California at Berkeley claims the right to control the use of its school name in various contexts, but insists FIRE, these restrictions may violate the First Amendment. -db FIRE Opinion May 3, 2010 By Adam Kissel The University of California at Berkeley restricts student organizations from using the words “California,” “Cal,” and “Berkeley” in organization names without prior permission. Like many colleges and universities across California, Berkeley is enforcing unconstitutional provisions that

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Sites sued for reposting articles without ever being asked to take them down

A copyright enforcement firm has filed three lawsuits against sites they claim reposted articles from newspapers including the Las Vegas Review-Journal. -db Online Media Daily April 30, 2010 By Wendy Davis Copyright enforcement outfit Righthaven has filed three more lawsuits against sites that allegedly reproduced articles from newspapers in the Stephens Media chain, including its flagship publication Las Vegas Review-Journal. The newest cases — against the advocacy group Wind Action, executives connected with the site

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Open government: Size of nuclear stockpile declassfied

For the first time since 1961, the federal government is releasing the number of nuclear weapons in the country’s arsenal. -db Secrecy News Federation of American Scientists Commentary May 3rd, 2010 By Steven Aftergood In an historic step, the U.S. Government will formally reveal the number of nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal. Until now, the shifting size of the nuclear arsenal had only been declassified from 1945 up to 1961. Current stockpile figures were

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Two California urban counties and the state government gain high marks for transparency

After a nationwide analysis of government websites, the Sunshine Review awarded 57 state and local governments and their agencies top scores for transparency. -db Sunshine Review Press Release April 29, 2010 The best state and local government websites in America for transparency today received a “Sunny Award” from Sunshine Review. Two California counties were among those winning recognition. The Los Angeles County website was among 16 state governments and local or state agencies to receive

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Google’s new Public Data Explorer raises questions about access to public records

With new search avenues,  journalists will have greater ability to search public records, but some public agencies across the country claim ownership rights to the records and are reluctant to make records available and even one state, Oklahoma, has raised millions in revenue from selling data. -db Citizen Media Law Project Analysis April 28, 2010 By Helen Fu In March, Google launched its Public Data Explorer, expanding upon its public data search feature that’s been

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