[Infowarrior] - Giving you access, one document at a time

[Richard Forno]

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080903/NEWS/809030309/1350

He's giving you access, one document at a time

By NATHAN HALVERSON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Wednesday, September 3, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, September 3, 2008 at 11:58 a.m.

California's building codes, plumbing standards and criminal laws can  
be found online.

       This Web site contains the Sonoma County Code and the 38-volume  
California Code of Regulations. Sebastopol resident Carl Malamud put  
the laws online in hopes California and other governments will drop  
their claim to copyright.

But if you want to download and save those laws to your computer,  
forget it.

The state claims copyright to those laws. It dictates how you can  
access and distribute them -- and therefore how much you'll have to  
pay for print or digital copies.

It forbids people from storing or distributing its laws without consent.

That doesn't sit well with Carl Malamud, a Sebastopol resident with an  
impressive track record of pushing for digital access to public  
information. He wants California -- and every other federal, state and  
local agency -- to drop their copyright claims on law, contending it  
will pave the way for innovators to create new ways of searching and  
presenting laws.

"When it comes to the law, the courts have always said there can be no  
copyright because people are obligated to know what it says," Malamud  
said. "Ignorance of the law is no excuse in court."

Malamud is spoiling for a major legal fight.

He has begun publishing copies of federal, state and county codes  
online -- in direct violation of claimed copyright.

On Labor Day, he posted the entire 38-volume California Code of  
Regulations, which includes all of the state's regulations from health  
care and insurance to motor vehicles and investment.

To purchase a digital copy of the California code costs $1,556, or  
$2,315 for a printed version. The state generates about $880,000  
annually by selling its laws, according to the California Office of  
Administrative Law.

Malamud isn't just targeting California. He posted safety and building  
codes for nearly all 50 states, and some counties and cities such as  
Sonoma County and Los Angeles.

This is not uncharted territory for Malamud. In 1994, he pushed the  
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to post corporate filings  
online, opening the door for companies such as Google and Yahoo to  
create elaborate financial Web sites. In June, Malamud helped convince  
the state of Oregon to stop claiming copyright over its laws.

Now Malamud wants to do the same for California -- and everywhere  
else. And he's willing to go to court to make his point. He thinks the  
court system will rule in his favor, establishing a precedent that all  
government agencies must follow.

"If that happens, it opens the doors to innovation," Malamud said.

To get the California Code online, he digitally scanned a stack of  
documents that weighed 150 pounds. Now anyone can download the 33,000  
pages, and print whatever they want from his Web site,  
public.resource.org.

Traditionally, governments provided publishing companies such as  
LexisNexis copies of laws to print and bind for people. It was  
practically the only way to get the laws distributed to people.  
LexisNexis claims to have the "world's largest collection of public  
records."

But the Internet has changed how people can share information.  
Increasingly, government agencies -- including Sonoma County --  
contract with LexisNexis and other publishers to post their laws online.

"Most of the county staff now just look up the codes on the Internet,"  
said Jennifer Barrett, Sonoma County's deputy planning director. "You  
can quickly search for keywords or a section. It's quite easy to find  
what you are looking for."

But LexisNexis does not format the online laws for easy printing or  
downloading, Malamud said. And that hampers how people can access the  
laws.

LexisNexis is the exclusive distributor of Sonoma County statutes,  
selling print versions for $220. It offers free access to the county's  
codes on the Internet, but its Web site is relatively archaic and  
doesn't include the features common in newer sites.

If the county provided those laws in a free, standardized digital  
format, others could design Web sites with more modern search and  
presentation features, Malamud said. Social Web sites could pop up  
where, for instance, plumbers could provide useful annotations to  
building codes -- perhaps blending Wikipedia with Facebook for a more  
useful law site.

LexisNexis declined to comment for this story. Its primary competitor,  
Thomson West, which publishes California laws under a contract with  
the state, does not claim copyright over government statutes, a  
spokesman said.

California asserts copyright protections for its laws, contending it  
ensures the public gets accurate, timely information while generating  
revenue for the state.

"We exercise our copyright to benefit the people of California," said  
Linda Brown, deputy director of the Office of Administrative Law,  
which manages the state's laws. "We are obtaining compensation for the  
people of California."

Malamud must get permission from the state to post codes online, Brown  
said. She was not familiar with Malamud's actions, and could not  
comment on what steps would be taken to protect the state's copyright.

Malamud might be seriously outgunned in regards to the financial and  
legal resources of the governments he is facing. But Malamud has a  
track record of defeating much larger foes, said Lawrence Lessig, a  
professor at Stanford Law School and founder of its Center for  
Internet and Society.

"I think his work is extraordinarily important," Lessig said.

While there is a lot of commercial interest in stopping Malamud, his  
strategy of showing how easy it is for governments to post laws  
themselves makes a strong argument to the public, Lessig said.

Malamud thinks it will take him another three years to establish that  
no one can assert copyright over any U.S. law.

Like in his previous battles, he's not going it alone. His nonprofit  
has received about $2 million so far, with money coming from Internet  
pioneers such as the foundation of Pierre Omidyar, who founded eBay.  
Malamud expects it will take several million more to finish his  
campaign.

He also has some heavy-hitting legal academics on his side.

Professor Pamela Samuelson, co-director of the Berkeley Center for Law  
and Technology, has also questioned the legality of copyrighting  
standards and laws.

"If it's the law, the public should have access to it," she said.

Samuelson points out that the idea of copyright was established to  
provide people incentive to create. People are given exclusive legal  
rights to their paintings, writings and other works because by selling  
those rights they can attempt to make a living.

There is no similar need for financial incentives to establish  
standards such as building codes, Samuelson said. For the most part,  
volunteers spend long hours drafting proposed standards for things  
like plumbing and building. Governments often take those standards and  
adopt them into law.

Once the standards become law, she doesn't think people can claim  
copyright protections. But like Malamud, she sees the courts making  
the final ruling.

"I don't think it's an airtight case for either side. But I think the  
law favors that if something is a law, it's in the public domain," she  
said.

You can reach Staff Writer Nathan Halverson at 521-5494 or nathan.halverson at pressdemocrat.com 
.