The Chilling Effects Clearinghouse
September 30th, 2008
Hearing news reports about the progress of the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act, now seems a good time to remind ourselves of this collection in progress: a searchable database of cease-and-desist letters from the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse, a collaboration between the Electronic Frontier Foundation and several leading law schools.
By the way: who owns the law?
Being a proponent of both civil rights and open source/access, you’ll not find me arguing against free and open access to laws and regulations. Besides, they’re government documents. Anything paid for by us should be accessible by us.
On the other hand, I know that Oregon’s Legislative Counsel’s office puts a lot of work into compiling statutes. I know because I worked there one session. And given the care and diligence they exercise, I would far rather access the law through them than through Mr. Malamud’s site. For any other state law, though? I’d use his site rather than go hunting for the official state site, just for ease of use.