There is a paradox here. The link I posted was a link to a government record in that it was a record created by the courts. In the federal FOIA and every state sunshine or open records act that I have read, the purpose is always stated as being to make government more transparent and accessible to the people. These laws serve us very well in this area and I am in full support of open government. As you point out, it is because of this and Internet access that I was able to easily find and link to the judicial record.

The paradox is the way the Internet has turned the intent of FOIA on it's head. It isn't government documents that are being exploited as in the case I cited but the personal documents which are being made more transparent. When the government creates a document, such as an index, a judicial ruling or a new law it should be readily available to the public and the Internet is a good tool for broad distribution. However, your deed, my mortgage and your grandfathers will are not documents that were created by the government. They are private documents entrusted to the local government for local preservation and limited access within the jurisdiction. The FOIA laws are being used to exploit the very citizens they were designed to empower.