On Thu, 9 Sep 2004 13:00:12 UTC, "Poor, Edmund
W"
<Edmund.W.Poor(a)abc.com> wrote:
I think this just means that, if a particular
satellite image reveals
important military information, the government is allowed to keep it
secret -- instead of being REQUIRED BY LAW to make it public, i.e.,
reveal it to enemies.
I really doubt that the typical "map showing my house" or "aerial view
of my community" is in any jeopardy.
Ah, well, that's because you conservatives have complete trust in the
Government to behave decently and reasonably on its own, without oversight
by the citizens.
:-)
One thing I noticed is that the article mentions images created by
private companies and then bought for use by the government. It
occurs to me that people might have been using FOIA as an endrun to
avoid paying the companies for their images - find out that the
government happens to be one of their customers, demand copies
from the government under FOIA, and then use the images for free
"because it's from the government".
I'm no conservative, but if a company has put up their own satellite
and network, I think they're as deserving of making a profit from it
as the portrait photographer down the street.
Stan