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https://www.techdirt.com/2022/03/14/corporate-information-wants-to-be-free/>
"Private companies have a lot of people to answer to. When you ask them,
they’ll claim its either shareholders or customers that they owe their ultimate
duty to. Ask them a couple of more times and they may admit they’re only
accountable to their shareholders.
But there’s more to it than this. The term “private” may suggest the only true
accountability is to the market, however it presents itself. But this willfully
ignores the reality of the situation. Many industries are heavily regulated,
which requires frequent interactions with government agencies. Thousands, if
not millions, of private companies secure government contracts, making them de
facto extensions of government agencies.
Despite this, the average American citizen cannot approach private companies
and demand access to communications, contracts, or regulatory compliance
activities. Instead, they have to approach it obliquely, asking government
agencies for permission to view (some) of this (secondhand) information. This
is rarely successful. Corporations love tax dollars but they have almost zero
interest in being honest with taxpayers. Private companies have inserted
themselves into court proceedings to prevent people accused of crimes from
examining the (private company-supplied) evidence used against them. And when
FOIA requesters come knocking on federal or local government doors,
corporations swear on all that is profitably unholy that any information leak
might destroy their competitive advantage.
That should stop us from demanding answers from corporations closely entwined
with government interests — whether it’s via regulation or lucrative contracts
laden with NDAs.
A recently published research paper [PDF] by Christopher Morten for the
University of Pennsylvania Law Review argues the public has a right to this
information. Corporations are the biggest beneficiaries of FOIA laws. Why,
then, is it assumed the street doesn’t run both ways?"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
