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September 27, 2004 |
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Lawsuit Challenges Editing Limitations
Aim is to lift Treasury's restrictions on materials from embargoed countries |
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SOPHIE L. ROVNER
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Brodsky |
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The simmering dispute over government restrictions on publishing has boiled over again, with four groups suing the U.S. Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in federal court in New York City on Sept. 27. The plaintiffs are the Association of American Publishers professional and scholarly publishing (AAP/PSP) division, the Association of American University Presses, PEN American Center, and Arcade Publishing. The American Chemical Society, through its membership in AAP, is participating in the suit. The society is providing $25,000 in financial backing for the effort.
In a joint statement, the plaintiffs say they are asking the court to strike down OFAC regulations that require publishers and authors to seek a license from the government to perform the routine activities necessary to publish foreign literature from embargoed countries such as Iran, Cuba, and Sudan in the U.S.
OFAC maintains that publishers who carry out these activities without a license may violate regulations that control dealings with nations under U.S. trade sanction. The plaintiffs argue that licenses arent needed because trade legislation passed by Congress exempts informational materials from trade embargoes. Furthermore, publishers say that a licensing requirement is onerous and smacks of censorship.
Our most basic liberties are violated when we, as publishers, have to either ask the government for permission to publish or risk serious criminal and civil penalties if we do not obtain permission, says Marc H. Brodsky, chairman of AAP/PSP and executive director of the American Institute of Physics, in the statement.
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Chemical & Engineering News
ISSN 0009-2347
Copyright © 2004 |
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