Recap (software)

Recap[1] is software which allows users to automatically search for free copies during a search in the fee-based online US legal database PACER, and to help build up a free alternative database at the Internet Archive.[2] It was created in 2009 by a team from Princeton University and Harvard University's Berkman Center.[1]

Recap is an extension for the Firefox and Chrome browsers which for each PACER document first checks if it has already been uploaded by another user to the Internet Archive; if no free version exists and the user purchases the document from PACER, it will automatically upload a copy to the Internet Archive.[2]

The Recap team uploaded 2.7 million documents Aaron Swartz had downloaded from PACER. These represented less than 1 percent of the documents in PACER.[3]

PACER continued charging per page fees after the introduction of RECAP.[4]

Some courts such as the District Court for the District of Massachusetts have explicitly stated that "fee exempt PACER users must refrain from the use of RECAP".[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Center for Information Technology Policy (2013). "Home". RECAP The Law. Retrieved 2013-05-31.
  2. 1 2 Johnson, Bobbie (11 November 2009). "Recap: cracking open US courtrooms". The Guardian. London.
  3. ↑ Lee, Timothy B. (2013-02-08). "The inside story of Aaron Swartz's campaign to liberate court filings". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2013-05-31.
  4. ↑ Singel, Ryan (October 5, 2009). "FBI Investigated Coder for Liberating Paywalled Court Records". Wired. Condé Nast. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  5. ↑ "CM/ECF - USDC Massachusetts - Version 5.1.1 as of 12/5/2011-United States District Court".

External links

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