TAP-CR SEC's EDGAR Database

[James Love <love@essential.org>]

TAP-INFO Internet Distribution List

Taxpayer Assets Project
CROWN JEWELS CAMPAIGN - EDGAR
October 21, 1993

     Announcement Expected Soon Regarding Pilot Project to Put
     SEC's EDGAR database on Internet

     Perhaps as early as friday, Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA) is
expected to announce that the NSF will fund a pilot project to
place the EDGAR database on the Internet.  The new initiative was
broadly hinted at earlier this week at a meeting of the
Information Industry Association (IIA), when speakers talked
about an announcement this week that a "major government"
database would be placed on the Internet for public access.

     Mead Data Central, the firm which holds the SEC contract to
manage the EDGAR database, and which has been fighting citizen
efforts to broad public access to this valuable public database,
appeared to be surprised about reports that EDGAR would soon be
available to the Internet community.  One Mead lobbyist told TAP
that while he was familiar with a pending NSF proposal to
disseminate EDGAR over the Internet, he assumed that no action
had been taken, and that Mead thought that they would have had
advance information about the NSF pilot from the SEC, if it was
true.  Apparently, the fix wasn't in after all.

     Tap-info will report further details of the EDGAR on the
Internet proposal next week.  On a related mater, the SEC is
conducting discussions with GPO about dissemination of EDGAR
filings on CD-ROM.  Earlier the SEC said it would agree to
provide the CD-ROM products only to federal depository libraries. 
Now, the SEC staff seems to be conceding that it is politically
difficult to justify publishing a CD-ROM product that is only to
available at selected libraries, without giving the public an
opportunity to purchase the CD-ROM.
              jamie love  <love@essential.org; 215/658-0880>
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