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Carl Malamud is taking on WestLaw and LexisNexis . Carl Malamud has this funny idea that public domain information ought to be... well, public. He has a history of creating public access databases on the net when the provider of the data has failed to do so or has licensed its data only to a private company that provides it only for pay. His technique is to build a high-profile demonstration project with the intent of getting the actual holder of the public domain information (usually a government agency) to take over the job. Carl's done this in the past with the SEC's Edgar database , with the Smithsonian , and with Congressional hearings . But now, he's set his eyes on the crown jewels of public data available for profit: the body of Federal case law that is the foundation of multi-billion dollar businesses such as WestLaw. There's not much content there yet, but this would be such a welcome development if it takes off. The prices that WestLaw and LexisNexis charge are...
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