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Content:
Basic Principles
The free flow of government information
to the public is essential to the democratic process.
A person is entitled to receive information from government and
government is under a
duty to provide information to the individual (per Judge A. Barak,
in HCJ 1601-1604/90,
Shalit et al v. Paris et al, PD 44(3) 353, 365).
The explanatory notes to the Draft
Freedom of Information Law, 5756-1996
(Draft Laws 2523, p. 608, 7th May 1996) state as follows with
regard to
"the freedom of information":
"The right to obtain information from public authorities
is one of the basic rights in a democratic regime and a fundamental
condition to the realisation of the freedom of expression and
the exercise of the individual's political and other rights in
all walks of life".
Government Information And Government
Databases
The State of Israel is in possession
of extensive information which is obtained in
the scope of its activity through government ministries, the Knesset,
the judicial system, government companies, statutory corporations
and state authorities.
The information is first and foremost designed for the performance
of
government functions, whilst the function of the government agency
might include
providing some of the information to the public. Computerised
systems are used
by all public agencies in the performance of their duties, the
systems being
based on databases. A distinction can be made between operative
databases
(such as those used in personnel and inventory management, the
order of goods and services, payment of salaries and payments
to suppliers) and
databases which are designed for the transmission of information
to the public
(for example over the Internet).
There are also databases which serve both an operative function
and (wholly or partly)
the function of providing information to the public (such as the
Population Registry,
the Computerised Processing Service (Sha'am) and the Registrar
of Companies).
Alongside the databases from which
information is given to the public, other channels for the dissemination
of information exist, such as written publications, press announcements,
written answers to questions from the public, the inspection of
ministry files, computerised telephone answering services etc.
In many cases these channels are also supported by
computerised databases, for example the computerised telephone
answering
service or a search of the ministry's database in order to provide
an answer to an enquiry from the public. Some of these information
services are given free of charge, some on payment
of an official fee and some in consideration for a price which
is set to cover costs.
Overall Policy
The State of Israel is in the process
of formulating policy on the providing of government
information to the public, whether by means of databases or otherwise.1
There are
isolated statutory and administrative provisions in this respect,
but they do not yet
constitute a standard pattern. In determining the proper overall
policy for the providing
of information to the public, it is inappropriate to distinguish
between information given
to the public by means of databases and information which is otherwise
given.2 The
policy should be based on the importance of information in the
democratic process and of the individual's right to obtain information
from government. Hence, the information must be readily available
and its cost to the public must be reasonable.
A reasonable cost means either free
of charge or at the cost of providing the information,3
when information which the public is legally entitled to obtain
is involved or it is the function
of the ministry to disseminate it to the public in the scope of
its official activity.
The State must not trade in such information.4
Not only has the public purse already
funded the information's creation, but it would be contrary to
the principles of freedom
of information mentioned above.5
There are many ways of giving information
to the public, one of which being from computerised databases.
The question of who should manage such a database or how it should
be
managed is at the operational rather than the fundamental policy
level.
Nevertheless, it should be ensured that the operational solution
achieves the basic
principles and policy mentioned above.
I shall below detail the situation
currently existing in Israel with regard to the provision
of government information to the public, including its provision
by means of
computerised databases. The current situation attests to the need
to formulate an
overall policy and perhaps guidelines at the operational level
in certain respects.
Pricing
The State can charge official fees
for the provision of services so long as embodied
by or pursuant to statute and approved by the Knesset (section
1 of the Basic Law:
The State Economy). Although there should be a connection between
the service provided
and the fee charged, the fee need not reflect the value of the
service (CA 154/83 Supersol
Ltd v. The Association Of Towns In The Area Of Ramat Gan, Bnei
Brak And Givataim (Kitchens, Slaughterhouses And Veterinary Supervision)
PD 37(4) 403, 407). This means that the fee for providing information
services can be greater than the value of the service or higher
than
its cost to the State.
Many information services are presently
provided to the citizen on payment of a fee.
Mention can be made of: inspecting the files of the Registrar
of Companies;6 obtaining
information from the Population Registry;7
obtaining an extract of registration from the Land
Registry;8 inspection of archived
material;9 inspecting the database
of the Registrar of Pledges;10 inspecting
the Register of Patents,11 and searching
the Register of Trademarks.12 No
common denominator can be found between these different fees.
In contrast, section 8.2.5.1.2 of the
Administrative Code, Handbook of Administrative
Rules((Takam, Sefer Minhal Mishki) (the Accountant-General's
regulations which
obligate government ministries) provides that government publications
are to be sold at
cost, meaning that the dissemination of government information
in its publications is
not commercially based and is not intended to finance the ministries'
ongoing activity.
The Duty To Give Information
Compared With The Power To Disseminate It
Certain information services are provided
by or pursuant to statute, the ministry being under
a duty to provide the information. The service is generally given
in consideration for a mandatory payment (an official fee, as
in the above examples).
A person may be entitled to obtain
information from a ministry by virtue of statute
(e.g. under section 13 of the Protection of Privacy Law) and the
ministry is then obliged
to provide the information, subject to the exceptions detailed
in the statute. The informationis
given in consideration for a payment which is set to cover the
cost of finding and producing the information sought.
A ministry disseminates information
to the public, as part of the performance of its duties, by
means of various publications (like those of the Central Bureau
of Statistics).
Whilst in all the above cases government
gives information to the public, it is clear that
different circumstances are involved which necessitate different
treatment. However,
in principle, the question is whether or not it is desirable to
lay down a consistent, stated
policy with regard to the different ways of providing the information.13
Privileged Information Compared
With Information Open To Public Inspection
Information held by the State might
be privileged for reasons of privacy (under the
Protection of Privacy Law, the Statistics Ordinance or the Income
Tax Ordinance); for reasons of security (in accordance with a
General Security Service classification; according to the
list of provisos in section 13 of the Protection of Privacy Law);
or on the groundof secrecy (development agreements in the area
of electronic data processing).
Information held by the State might
be privileged vis-a-vis the public but open to inspection by a
particular person (e.g. someone seeking to obtain information
about himself by virtue of
section 13 of the Protection of Privacy Law) or it might be open
to general inspection as regards a particular type of information
(e.g. the right to inspect the Population Registry for certain
registered items).
Information held by the State might
be open to unrestricted inspection by the public, as in the
case of registers established in order to provide information
to the public, like those of the
Registrar of Companies, the Registrar of Patents, the Trademarks
Register etc.
The more sensitive the information
held by the State, the tendency is not to allow external
entities to administer the information. For example, Government
Decision no. 94 of 10th July 1996
with regard to the transfer of electronic data processing unit
activity to the private sector, specifically excludes the Ministry
of Defence, the IDF, the General Security Service and the Mossad.
Nevertheless, the Population Registry,
that contains information which is protected under the Protection
of Privacy Law and other statutes, has for many years been administered
by a private company (Malam Systems Ltd) and its administration
is now being outsourced to Digital Equipment (DEC) Ltd (subject
to confidentiality warranties and the provisions of section 118
of the Penal Law).
Information which is not privileged,
as regards an individual's intimate life or for reasons of security,
can be given to the public by private entities without specific
problems (e.g. the provision
of information about companies from the Registrar of Companies'
database; or the publication of legislation and court judgments).
Copyright
The State of Israel holds copyright
in its works pursuant to section 18 of the Copyright Act, 1911.
The protection under the Copyright
Act extends to the commercial value of the work and inter alia
prohibits unauthorised copying and distribution of the work which
denies the copyright owner pecuniary gain.
The State of Israel also has what are
called "moral rights" in its works by virtue of section 4A of
the Copyright Ordinance (pursuant to the 1981 amendment).
According to section 4A, the author
of a work is entitled to have his name applied
to the work and for his work not to be distorted, mutilated etc.
in such a way as devalues
the work or is prejudicial to his honour or reputation.
This means that the State of Israel
holds copyright in its publications, namely those
publications that it disseminates which are subject to the provisions
of the Takam with
regard to pricing at cost. In principle, the State should not
be expected to have copyright in the information which it provides
to the individual by virtue of statute. Such information
generally derives from various registers, the information not
constituting a literary or
other work which is protected by copyright law.
Databases themselves might be the subject
of copyright, although the protection extends
to the actual structure of the database, if it is the result of
particular "creativity" rather than the necessary result of its
function. The clearest expression of this concept is to be found
in the special treaty, whose wording was recently approved in
the scope of the Berne
Convention. Article 5 of the new treaty provides as follows:
"Compilations of data or other
material, in any form, which by reason of the selection or arrangement
of their contents constitute intellectual creations, are protected
as such. This protection does not extend to the data or the
material itself and is without prejudice to any copyright subsisting
in the data or material contained in the compilation."
Nevertheless, the State generally holds
absolute control over the information which it
provides to the public from its databases. Although copyright
might not subsist in the
information from the databases, the State may, by contract, prescribe
conditions with regard
to its provision to the public, either directly or through an
independent entity. That is to say that
the lack of copyright in the information contained in the database
or in the database itself does
not impede the information's delivery to the public through a
private concern, so long as there
is a contract which specifically protects the State's interests.
As regards State publications which
are distributed on a cost recovery basis, it is doubtful
whether the publications need copyright protection at all, at
least so far as the protection of their economic value is concerned.
If the publication is disseminated at cost price, ipso facto it
has no commercial value to the State. The practical protection
which is retained is the State's moral
right in its works. The moral right is understandable when applied
to an individual, but its logic is difficult to understand when
the author is the State. The question is therefore whether
copyright has any meaning in respect of State publications. In
any event, copyright is
not an obstacle to the provision of information to the public,
whether by the State itself or
by private entities.
It should be noted that a new Copyright
Law is currently being drafted. According to the new Law,
the State will not hold copyright in legislation, the proceedings
of the Knesset, case law
, the Official Gazette or administrative decisions. It cannot
be known how this amendment
will affect the distribution of legislation and case law in the
future. In any event it is a small
market, with a multitude of players in the private sector. Moreover,
it is doubtful whether the State
does at present act in order to protect the rights which it now
holds in these publications. Three companies distribute judgments
of the Israeli courts without any written contracts and without
paying royalties to the State - in the full knowledge of the Courts'
Administration.
The Provision Of Government
Information To The Public Directly Or Through Another Entity
The State provides information to the
public both itself and through private concerns,
although there is no clear policy in this respect.14
The decisions are made at the operational
level, having regard to the ministry's technological capacity,
budget and organisational ability.
Judgments
The Supreme Court judgments are published
in print on behalf of the Supreme Court by
the Israel Bar;15 and they are also
distributed on CD by three entities: the Israel Bar,16
Hotzaot Halachot Ltd17 and CDI Systems
(1992) Ltd.18
These three companies obtain the judgments
from the Supreme Court in digital format.
They provide added value to the raw material by integrating it
in a software application
(which is specific to each of the companies) enabling the material
to be retrieved and
searches to be made by various criteria, including cross-referencing
with legislation. This is
an example of providing raw material to private contractors who
enrich the material and create
a new product from it under their own names and at their own risk.
The companies sell their
products in the private market, competing over price, quality
and support.
It would appear that if the raw material
exists in digital form, it should be made available to the
public on-line (for example on the Supreme Court's Internet site,
when it opens).
Legislation
The principal legislation is printed
by the Government Printing Office (a unit of the Ministry
of Finance) and distributed by the Ministry of Defence Publications.19
On the other hand,
the updated laws of the State of Israel are only distributed in
consolidated format by private
entities, either in printed form (like Dinim of Hotzaot
Halachot Ltd20) or on CD, together
with
judgments (like Dinim V'Od of Hotzaot Halachot Ltd; Takdin
of CDI Systems (1992) Ltd; and
Pador of the Israel Bar).
Computerised Processing Service
The Computerised Processing Service
(Sha’am) (which operates through the State Revenue Administration)
provides information to subscribers from the State Revenue Administration's
databases, through structured enquirie- dir, rather than through
an independent contractor.
The service is provided in consideration for payment. From its
price, it would appear that it
is a commercial service.21
The Registrar of Companies
Information from the Registrar of Companies'
database, in the form of a printout, is obtained
through private companies, which have won a Ministry of Justice
tender. On the other hand,
the actual files can be inspected by means of the Registrar's
staff. According to the agreement between the Ministry of Justice
and the franchisees, the latter charge the public a payment
which is made up of two elements: the official fee, as fixed in
the First Schedule to the
Companies (Registration Particulars and Forms Fees) Regulations,
5749-1969, as approved
by the Constitution, Legislation and Juridical Committee of the
Knesset and in accordance
with section 1 of the Basic Law: the State Economy. In addition,
the franchisee charges a
commission, that was originally fixed at NIS 7 plus VAT,
which payment was not approved
by the Constitution, Legislation and Juridical Committee of the
Knesset, despite constituting a mandatory payment for the service.
For some reason this issue was not raised in HCJ 2303/90,
HCJ 3709/90, Eli Filipovitz et al v. The Registrar of Companies
et al, PD 46(1) 410, in which the legality of authorising
franchisees to sell information to the public was approved.22
Apart from the narrow legal aspect
of charging a commission in addition to the official fee,
it would appear that the above system leads to the information
being given at a price which
exceeds the cost of its actual provision. The franchisee sells
the information as part of a
commercial business and must not only cover its expenses but should
also make a profit
from the activity. The State pays the franchisee nothing for its
services and the official fee
received by the State is therefore a clear profit to the State.
The outsourcing of information services
can be a fitting solution to an organisational or budgetary problem,
as in the case of the Registrar of Companies. The system is not
illegitimate per se.
If the system were operated in accordance with the basic principles
presented here, the cost
of the service to the citizen would be fixed at the cost of the
commission charged by the
contractor (NIS 7 under the agreement and linked in accordance
with the terms of the agreement), which is the cost of the service.
Since this is a mandatory payment for the exercise of a legal
right (the right to inspect the Registrar of Companies' registers),
the amount should have been
fixed as an official fee, with the approval of the Constitution,
Legislation and Juridical Committee
of the Knesset (with provision for linkage). In other words, the
system of outsourcing government information services can be operated
whilst maintaining the basic principles of providing
information free of charge or at cost price. In the case of the
Registrar of Companies, it can
be seen that the cost of the service is NIS 7, which should
be the total fee payable by the
citizen for the service.
The Stock Exchange
The agreement between the Tel Aviv
Stock Exchange Ltd23 and its distributors
of information
over the stock exchange network from an open transmission centre
to peripheral units, is a fine example of the use of independent
contractors in the dissemination of information from a
database on a competitive, commercial basis. The information here
is essential to the business
sector and stock exchange investors and it is disseminated both
by the stock exchange itself
and by independent contractors, from a database located at a single
"transmission centre" which serves all the distributors. The information
is provided to peripheral users on-line. Competition is based
on price and service. The technological and legal solution is
fine, although it must be
borne in mind that the distribution of commercial information
from stock exchange trade is
involved, rather than government information. In addition, it
should be emphasised that the
information is given to the end users by means of a closed network
(rather than the open Internet), each end user having to finance
the communication line and peripheral equipment.
The solution is designed for the business sector, which pays a
commercial price for the
information and the service.
The Population Registry
The agreement between the Ministry
of Interior and Digital Equipment (DEC) Ltd, outsourcing the establishment,
operation and maintenance of a computerised system for population
administration (the Population Registry) is an interesting example
of the provision of
information to the public. It appears that the information which
the citizen is legally entitled
to obtain from the Population Registry will continue to be provided
to him by the staff of the
Ministry of Interior, the staff obtaining the information from
the computerised register.24 That
is
to say, as in the past, Digital will not provide information services
directly to the general public.
On the other hand, Digital will provide information to "external
users who are not part of the
Ministry of Interior"25 (which presumably
means other government ministries that are entitled to
obtain information from the Register for the performance of their
duties, subject to and in
accordance with section 23C of the Protection of Privacy Law,
5741-1981 as regards the
transmission of information between public bodies). The information
is provided to those
ministries on a commercial basis in accordance with Digital's
price list.26 That is to say that
government ministries, which are entitled to obtain the information
for the performance of their
duties, need to purchase the information from another ministry
through its outsourcing contractor
at a commercial price.
The Internet
The Internet enables government ministries
to provide and disseminate information to the
public on-line from a database or databases which exist specifically
for the purpose. A database
can be a simple collection of web pages which appear on the ministry's
site or a real database
(like the Central Bureau of Statistics' database oftime series
statistics), which is available for
public use by means of a search engine.27
Government ministries use independent contractors
for the dissemination of information over the Internet, whether
they be consultants or experts
in site design and maintenance or in technological applications.
There is presently no uniformity in
the structure of government Internet sites. The Government
Internet Policy Committee, headed by the Deputy Accountant-General,
Mr Itzhak Klein, is
dealing with standardisation. The Committee is fashioning framework
rules, inter alia relating
to the following points: the State emblem; the site name; reference
to the Government site or
to the list of government ministries; web page revision date;
address for communications;
site address; searching the site; the type of Hebrew on the site;
information about the site
and guidance in its use; FAQs; site maps; copyright; the use of
Java; etc., etc.
Summary
The above examples are intended to
demonstrate the wide ranging methods of providing
information to the public. Information, including from government
databases, can be provided
directly by the government ministries (with or without the aid
of independent concerns,
including consultants and sub-contractors) or by means of independent
entities (by outsourcing, private distributors etc.). The range
of operational solutions in this context attests that there is
in fact no single correct way of providing information to the
public and that each ministry must
find the solutions appropriate to it in accordance with its technological,
budgetary and
organisational capacity, whilst maintaining the fundamental principles
of providing information
to the public in an available way and at reasonable rather than
commercial cost.28 In the new era,
information technology enabling the on-line provision of information
to the public, this channel of information dissemination should
be exploited as an integral part of the State's information
system and its use encouraged on conditions which are apboth tothe
nature of the information
and to its target population. It is necessary to ensure that all
on-line information provision is in accordance with the law and
with the applicable administrative regulations and standards.
Recommendations
The State of Israel must formulate
an overall policy on the provision of government information
to the public, including by means of government databases. The
State of Israel accepts the
principles of freedom of information and the importance of information
in the democratic process. These fundamental principles should
underlie the policy that it is a function and duty of the State
to provide government information to the public in an effective,
available and accessible way.
Government ministries must exploit
information provision channels which give expression
to the principles of freedom of information, having regard both
to the needs of the public
and to the legal and administrative restrictions. Amongst other
things, the electronic
dissemination of information from government databases is to be
encouraged, whether by the ministries themselves (with or without
independent assistance) or by means of independent entities.
In addition, the provision of raw government
information of commercial value to entities
from the private sector on an equal basis should be encouraged,
with a view to those
entities adding value to the information and distributing it to
the public commercially in
a competitive environment, as an additional means of disseminating
government information
to the public.
The State must give consideration to
the question of its copyright in the information which
it has and determine a policy on enforcement or otherwise, in
accordance with the various
types of information and the different means of providing it.
Remarks:
- Compare the situation in the USA, where the matter is regulated
in OMB Circular no. A-130.
- Nevertheless, it is clear that special attention must be given
to the database operational level - see, for example, the Protection
of Privacy (Amendment No. 4) Law, 5741-1981 (Sefer Ha'Chukkim
1589, 11th April 1996, p. 290).
- A distinction should be made between "full costs" (which cover
all the ministry's activity
up to and including the information's delivery) and costs which
merely cover the expense of delivery (i.e. excluding the information
collection and processing costs, the ministry's routine operating
expenses etc.). In this respect see OMB Circular no. A-130.
In Brian Kahin's article, "Information Policy and the Internet",
Government Publications Review, Vol.18, pp. 451-472,
1991, the author raises the question of whether the cost of
covering expenses should
be construed as the marginal cost of delivering the information
and he answers in
the affirmative, focusing on the dissemination of government
information by means
of the Internet. In his opinion, since the marginal cost of
delivering information to the
individual is virtually nil, government Internet information
services must be free of charge.
- There may be something which the English term "information
of commercial value",
which is not supplied to the public by virtue of law or as part
of the ministry's function
and the State may perhaps trade in it if it so desires (by giving
it to private entities for dissemination to the public with
added value - at market price). In this respect, see the
writer's working paper, "The Dissemination of Government Information
- A Comparison
Between England and the USA, 19th December 1996. So far as I
understand, this involves
trade in specific databases, to which private entities may add
value, then selling information
from the enhanced databases to the public. If in England this
means databases which
contain identified information on individuals or businesses,
it is doubtful whether the model
could be implemented in Israel because of the restrictions of
the Protection of Privacy
Law, 5741-1981 (section 2(9) of which prohibits "using, or passing
on to another, information on a person's private affairs otherwise
than for the purpose for which it was given"; CA 439/88,
Registrar of Databases v. Moshe Ventura et al, PD 48(3)
808, in which the Registrar of
Databases' decision not to register a database which used information
contrary to
section 2(9) of the Protection of Privacy Law was upheld; Chapter
Four of the Protection
of Privacy Law, which prohibits the transmission of information
from a public agency to
the public and limits the transfer of information between public
bodies), or because of restraints contained in other legislation,
like the confidentiality provisions in sections 231-235 of the
Income Tax Ordinance [New Version] or sections 17 and 20 of
the Statistics Ordinance [New Version], 5732-1972 with regard
to statistical confidentiality.
- There may be something which the English term "information
of commercial value", which
is not supplied to the public by virtue of law or as part of
the ministry's function and the State
may perhaps trade in it if it so desires (by giving it to private
entities for dissemination to the
public with added value - at market price). In this respect,
see the writer's working paper,
"The Dissemination of Government Information - A Comparison
Between England and the
USA, 19th December 1996. So far as I understand, this involves
trade in specific databases,
to which private entities may add value, then selling information
from the enhanced databases
to the public. If in England this means databases which contain
identified information on individuals or businesses, it is doubtful
whether the model could be implemented in Israel because of
the restrictions of the Protection of Privacy Law, 5741-1981
(section 2(9) of which prohibits "using, or passing on to another,
information on a person's private affairs otherwise
than for the purpose for which it was given"; CA 439/88,
Registrar of Databases v. Moshe
Ventura et al, PD 48(3) 808, in which the Registrar of Databases'
decision not to register a database which used information contrary
to section 2(9) of the Protection of Privacy Law was upheld;
Chapter Four of the Protection of Privacy Law, which prohibits
the transmission of information from a public agency to the
public and limits the transfer of information between public
bodies), or because of restraints contained in other legislation,
like the confidentiality provisions in sections 231-235 of the
Income Tax Ordinance [New Version] or sections 17
and 20 of the Statistics Ordinance [New Version], 5732-1972
with regard to statistical confidentiality.
- A discussion of this issue appears below.
- According to the First Schedule to the Companies (Registration
Particulars and Forms Fees) Regulations, 5749-1969, the inspection
of a company file costs NIS 30; inspection of the
Register of Companies costs NIS 30; inspection of the Register
of Charges costs NIS 30; obtaining information by computer
costs NIS 30 for up to five computer pages and NIS 1
for every additional page.
- According to the Second Schedule to the Population Registry
(Registration Arrangements) Regulations, 5733-1973, the provision
of information from the files of the Population Registry about
a single individual is exempt from payment and costs NIS 10
in respect of every
additional person.
- According to the Schedule to the Land (Official Fees) Regulations,
5735-1974, extracts and
copies from registers and documents cost NIS 44 for the
first five pages, NIS 29 for the next
ten pages and NIS 10 for every subsequent page.
- According to the Schedule to the Archives (Official Fees)
Regulations, 5742-1981, the
inspection or copy fee is 91 NIS.
According to the Second Schedule to the Pledges
(Registration and Inspection Arrangements) Regulations, 5754-1994,
inspection of the database, including obtaining a registration
report
costs NIS 21; obtaining a copy of a document or extract
costs NIS 13
- According to the Second Schedule to the Patents (Office Procedure,
Civil Procedure,
Documents and Fees) Regulations, 5728-1968, a confirmation or
copy of a document or a certificate or extract from the register
costs NIS 30.
- According to the First Schedule to the Trademarks Regulations,
1940, a search of the
Register or the database costs NIS 293.
- Compare again Circular no. A-130, supra, which specifically
relates to the issue.
Paragraph 8(a)5 of the Circular provides as follows:
"Providing Information to the Public. Agencies
have a responsibility to provide information to the public
consistent with their missions. Agencies shall discharge this
responsibility by:
- providing information, as required by law, describing
agency organization, activities, programs, meetings, systems
of records and other information holdings and how the
public may gain access to agency information resources;
- providing access to agency records under provisions
of the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act,
subject to the protections and limitations provided for
in these Acts;
- providing such other information as is necessary or
appropriate for the proper performance of agency functions;"
- There is no legal impediment to the State's using an independent
concern for the provision of information, so long as a purely
technical act is involved without the exercise of statutory
discretion - HCJ 2303/90, HCJ 3709/90 Eli Filipovitz
et al v. The Registrar of Companies et al,
PD 46(1) 410, where the legality of selling information from
the Registrar of Companies'
database through private franchisees was considered (and approved).
- An annual subscription to the (printed) judgments of the Supreme
Court costs NIS 1,336,
including VAT.
- Update no. 12 of the Israel Bar Publishing House's Pador
(which includes judgments
of the Supreme and District Courts and up to date legislation)
costs NIS 376, including VAT.
- The cost of an annual subscription to Dinim V'Od (the
CD being published four times a
year and containing legislation, as published in the prinDinim
together with judgments
of the Supreme and District Courts) is NIS 2,613, including
VAT.
- Update no. 11/96 to CDI Systems (1992) Ltd's Takdin
(which includes judgments of the
Supreme and District Courts, updated legislation and a key to
articles) costs NIS 470,
including VAT.
- An annual subscription to the Official Gazette (Edition A)
for 1996/97 was NIS 1,168,
including VAT.
- The cost of update no. 120 was NIS 641, including VAT.
Dinim is updated four times
a year.
- The price is based on the cost of one minute's connection
or part thereof plus screen cost. For example (according to
November 1993 prices) during ordinary hours, one minute's
connection costs NIS 0.26, whilst an ordinary enquiry screen
costs NIS 0.16 and a special computation enquiry screen
costs NIS 0.64.
- The court held (at p.420) that "the person inspecting should
be allowed to show what
he saw on the screen and when he saw it. Indeed providing a
screen print or the equivalent
is a minimum requirement which the government authority must
meet, otherwise it is not
fulfilling its duty". The court also held that "the person inspecting
must also be allowed to
obtain a printout in consideration for an appropriate official
fee". The court did not consider
the charging of a commercial commission for the sale of information
by a private franchisee.
- This is a commercial company, regardless of whether or not
it is a government company.
- This is not detailed in the agreement which was provided to
me, although it is presumably regulated in the technical specification
of the tender. It should be noted that there is no technological
impediment to Digital's providing the public directly with the
information which is legally open to inspection.
- Paragraph 5.2.6.1 of Digital's offer in the tender, which
forms part of the agreement between
the Ministry of Interior and Digital.
- Paragraphs 5.2.6, 5.2.7 and 5.2.8 of Digital's price offer,
which constitutes part of its
agreement with the Ministry of Interior. According to paragraph
5.2.6.4 of Digital's offer,
the amount required by Digital for the on-line processing of
a basic enquiry by an external
user is NIS 0.256. Paragraph 5.2.7 of the offer relates
to the performance of batch services, including the extraction
of records in accordance with general parameters, the extraction
of records in accordance with identity numbers and data verification.
For example, the extraction
of records in accordance with identity numbers, in a quantity
of 100,000, will cost the external
user NIS 50,600. The price list has been revised (presumably
based on index-linkage) and
was circulated by the Ministry of Interior to the various ministries
("Aviv Project customers")
in October 1996. The prices mentioned above are from Digital's
original offer rather than the revised price list.
- It should be emphasised that the database of time series statistics
which is available to the
public by Internet is on the CBS' Internet site server and is
derived from a larger database containing all the time series
statistics. There is no physical connection between the two
databases. The large database has numerous purposes, not merely
the on-line dissemination
of information to the public. The physical separation between
the databases is inter alia
designed to protect the integrity of the information against
malicious intrusion.
- This is in effect the US approach, as expressed in Circular
no. A-130. For example see
paragraph 8(a)5 which provides as follows:
(d) In determining whether and how to disseminate
information to the public, agencies shall:
- disseminate information in a manner that achieves the
best balance between the goals of maximising the usefulness
of the information and minimising the cost to the government
and the public;
- disseminate information dissemination products on equitable
and timely terms;
- take advantage of all dissemination channels, Federal
and non-federal, including State and local governments,
libraries and private sector entities, in discharging
agency information dissemination responsibilities;
help the public locate government
information maintained by or for the agency."
Paragraph 8(a)8 of the Circular relates to the electronic dissemination
of information and
provides as follows:
"Electronic Information Dissemination. Agencies
shall use electronic media and formats, including public networks,
as appropriate and within budgetary constraints, in order
to make government information more easily accessible and
useful to the public. The use of electronic media and formats
for information dissemination is appropriate under the following
conditions:
- the agency develops and maintains the information electronically;
- electronic media or formats are practical and cost effective
ways to provide public access to a large, highly detailed
volume of information;
- the agency disseminates the product frequently;
- the agency knows a substantial portion of users have
ready access to the necessary information technology and
training to use electronic information dissemination products;
- a change to electronic dissemination, as the sole means
of disseminating the product, will not impose substantial
acquisition or training costs on users, especially State
and local governments and small business entities."
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