One Man's Quest to Make Information Free - Businessweek

For another timely information access snapshot, see Open Sesame (The Economist)

"More than 15 years after that stunt [Edgar], Malamud is still making the same argument: If you make government information free and easily accessible, there’s no telling who’ll start using it or what good ideas will spring up. “Every time I put something online there’s a huge audience,” says Malamud, founder of Public.Resource.Org, a nonprofit that advocates for government transparency. “The industry guys think the only audience is industry types and Ralph Nader.”
Now Malamud’s taking on the best practices for construction, industry, and manufacturing. They’re written by hundreds of nonprofits known as “standards development organizations.” About 3,000 of these standards are referenced but not fully spelled out in federal law. "

One Man's Quest to Make Information Free - Businessweek