<p dir="ltr">I strongly support this application. <br></p>
<p dir="ltr">Andrew<br>
</p>
<div class="gmail_quote">On 23/06/2014 11:17 am, "Chris Neugebauer" <<a href="mailto:chrisjrn@gmail.com">chrisjrn@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Hey all,<br>
<br>
One of our members, Michael Cordover, has been going through the<br>
Freedom of Information process to gain access to the source code used<br>
by the Australian Electoral Commision to tally Senate votes in<br>
Australian federal elections.<br>
<br>
Michael's process, including all correspondence with the AEC, has been<br>
thoroughly documented here at [0].<br>
<br>
The AEC declined the FOI request, and Michael is currently seeking<br>
appeal through the administrative appeals tribunal, as the free review<br>
process was performed by the OAIC, a body being disbanded through the<br>
2014-15 federal budget process.<br>
<br>
The appeal requires a lodgement fee of some $850. Michael is in the<br>
process of crowd funding this request [1].<br>
<br>
Whilst I'm not a lawyer, I've been following the process quite closely<br>
since it started, and have been deeply bemused by the AEC's arguments,<br>
which I personally feel are either technically flawed or absurd.<br>
<br>
I believe that the goal of the FOI request, and associated review, is<br>
well in line with Linux Australia's values [2], in particular, that of<br>
"Freedom", which explicitly states:<br>
<br>
"We value free access to, sharing of and repurposing of information,<br>
in particular that information held by the public sector."<br>
<br>
I'd like to request that, as a showing of support, Linux Australia<br>
make a small contribution, not exceeding $150 to the crowdfunding<br>
campaign.<br>
<br>
<br>
--Chris<br>
<br>
[0] <a href="http://easycount.mjec.net/" target="_blank">http://easycount.mjec.net/</a><br>
[1] <a href="http://www.pozible.com/project/183015" target="_blank">http://www.pozible.com/project/183015</a><br>
[2] <a href="http://linux.org.au/values" target="_blank">http://linux.org.au/values</a><br>
<br>
--<br>
--Christopher Neugebauer<br>
<br>
Jabber: <a href="mailto:chrisjrn@gmail.com">chrisjrn@gmail.com</a> -- IRC: chrisjrn on <a href="http://irc.freenode.net" target="_blank">irc.freenode.net</a> --<br>
WWW: <a href="http://chris.neugebauer.id.au" target="_blank">http://chris.neugebauer.id.au</a> -- Twitter: @chrisjrn<br>
<br>
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</blockquote></div>