Principles of federal information control in a technological age: A study of three United States government actions from 1983 to 1992

The research suggests the kinds of philosophical grounds on which a modern United States government justifies restriction of public access to government information when there is no immediate threat of destruction of that government. The specific activities examined in this study are the congressional re-examination of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, congressional passage of the Computer Security Act of 1987 and congressional approval of the Pentagon's use of media pools for reporting military strikes during the past decade. The relevant congressional debates are reviewed for descriptions of information as either content-centered or conduit/carrier-centered. Selected passages from these hearings are also analyzed for either deontological or teleological underpinnings. With this evidence, the author suggests a federal policy for information control in a modern United States.