FOIAMachine dev here. There are a few projects operating in the space and it seems the more help being offered to get people asking their government for data and documents the better off we'll all be. There's gonna be some overlap, nothing is totally novel and I like to think FOIAMachine builds on some of the great ideas that came before it, including those generated by MuckRock. I see FOIAMachine different in a few ways. It has tighter controls for sharing requests with specific people (or keeping them private). We're building controls so you can make requests more social. What that means is sharing a request with others to build support publicly. And of course, we'll share what users make available via an API. Also, while we're asking for funding now the service will be totally free. It's built so users can help each other. It's built so you have the tools to stay organized. Once the code is done the hosting costs are minimal and it won't need much to keep the lights on and help people create their requests. MuckRock and Alaveteli are great and their creators have done yeoman's work. FOIAMachine approaches the problem from a different angle and I think it'll be a useful tool for a lot of people.
"FOIAMachine approaches the problem from a different angle."
FOIA Machine has been telling me this since 2011, and yet you continue to copy what we deploy, feature by feature. Seriously. I'd love to work together, and I already offered to open source our source code for you, but that's not an offer that has ever been taken up.
I'm always available to talk: Michael@MuckRock.com.
Sorry Shane, but I'd rather give my money to MuckRock.
There shouldn't be controls for sharing; all FOIA requests should be open, as well as the responses. That's the point of the platform.
More social? FOIA officers don't care if your request is social, they care if your request fits within the scope and guidelines of what should be in a FOIA request.
Your angle seems to be the wrong angle. Just saying.
