Transparent windows at the White House: Open Access (OA) on a roll!!! « Infokelele

"Amid the news of the sequester doom and gloom, the White House has released a brand new policy guidance on Open Access rightly hailed by many as earth shaking. The move is unprecedented. First, it is being coordinated and overseen from the highest levels of the executive branch. Second, the federal policy now goes beyond biomedical research outputs. This silences the ‘too limited coverage’ critics of the past policy. Third, it advances economic freedom. The right of individuals to benefit from their literary properties remains protected as are their privacy and confidentiality rights. Fourth, it is good public policy. It paves the way for entrepreneurs and industries to benefit from research outputs financed by tax payer money while also protecting the general public from unduly unwarranted ‘double taxation’. It is a comprehensive yet simple policy guidance I would recommend to every single government serious about implementing Open Access. Considering the one-up-one- down competition between the White House and Congress, I expect the legislative branch of government to be playing catch up pretty soon. From what I hear, some bills are already pending in both the House and the Senate. Methinks the broadband access provisions will ultimately have to be addressed through the agency public access provisions! With all these exciting new developments, what could possibly go wrong with Open Access?"