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A&A: Request for candidate’s college degree requires authorization?

FAC February 5, 2011

A: I emailed a PRA request to a Cal State admissions office regarding a degree  granted to someone running for the local city council. I received the following reply: “We have no problem complying, you will need to request this in written form. Provide us with the following information and pay the required fee $10.00. You will also need to present an authorization letter with signature from the [former student whose records you request]. The

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A&A: Agency answered cure & correct letter with demonstrable falsehoods

FAC February 4, 2011

Q: I sent a letter to a public agency requesting “cure and correction,” to a Brown Act violation.  The Agency responded with a signed document that contained demonstrably false statements of fact. What is the correct name and legal status of this response document? Is it a legal response that is subject to perjury or other criminal violations? A: As you may know, under the Public Records Act, public records — which include “any writing

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A&A:Third time no charm: University denies documents, offers no explanation

FAC February 4, 2011

Q: The university where I work denied a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request that involved analysis of information that provided justification for a university policy.  After the denial I refined my letter to request specific documents. However, they haven’t responded at to my second request, or to a follow up after ten working days had elapsed. A: Just to clarify, FOIA, or the Freedom of Information Act, refers to the federal law pertaining to disclosure

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U.S. protests beatings and arrests of journalists covering protests in Egypt

donal brown February 3, 2011

With reports that Mubarak supporters had beaten a number of journalists and that two dozen reporters had been arrested including two Americans, the White House issued a statement that the actions were “completely and totally unacceptable.” A report by Erika Niedowski in The Hill quoted Reporters without Borders secretary-general Jean-François Julliard on Wednesday: “We remind all parties that journalists are external observers who under no circumstances should be identified with one side or the other,”

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CA Appeals Court: free Internet porn isn’t unfair competition to pay porn sites

Peter Scheer February 3, 2011

Bright Imperial Limited of Hong Kong, which operates paid pornography sites with streaming X-rated video, filed suit in California against Redtube.com, a competing porn business that does not charge users for access. The suit claimed Redtube’s free porn sites were hurting Bright Imperial’s business and constitute “unfair competition” under California’s Unfair Practices Act. As reported by Ars Technica, the complaint charged that: “. . . ubiquitous distribution of free adult videos through redtube.com has had

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