Federal register proves --- making them accessible increases tech innovation.

Raymond Mosley and Robert Tapella, “Amicus brief- Former Government Publishing Officials Raymond Mosley and Robert Tapella,” Electronic Frontier Foundation, https://www.eff.org/ar/document/amicus-brief-former-government-publishing-officials-raymond-mosley-and-robert-tapella

Second, the historical debates over the Federal Register rebut the purported need for copyright protection over mandatory technical standards. The Appel- lant standards organizations contend that copyright-based monopoly control offers necessary private profit incentives. Yet the same incentives-based arguments have been proffered as reasons against publishing the Federal Register online or in print. The copyright arguments in this case are no more plausible than the failed historical arguments against making the Federal Register accessible.

Third, making the Federal Register more accessible has historically led to unexpectedly beneficial innovation. Publishing the Federal Register opened the door to such ideas as regulatory codification, online commenting on regulatory proposals, and even the Administrative Procedure Act. These and other advances in legal technology and institutions, made possible by unfettered access to regulations, have enhanced the public’s understanding of government and ability to participate in the regulatory process.

The same innovation benefits should be expected here. Ensuring that copy-right law does not impede full access to mandatory technical standards will spawn new services, technologies, and ideas that will further the American experiment of democratic self-governance. That a case seemingly about private intellectual property implicates fundamental public values is perhaps the most valuable lesson that the history of the Federal Register holds.