Although the U.S. Commerce Department has put its plans on hold to charge users for a new service that searches millions of government Web sites and databases, its private-sector partner intends to proceed with the fee-based project.
When the Gov.search service was launched May 17 with a $15 daily or $30 monthly fee, critics charged that it violated the Clinton administration’s promise to make the Internet and government data more accessible. The next day the National Technical Information Service, which developed the service in partnership with Northern Light Technology, announced that it would be temporarily available for free while the government reviewed its information-dissemination policy.
Northern Light CEO David Seuss said May 19 the firm would offer free two-week trials of the product while administration officials decide whether to remain involved. Explaining that Northern Light financed the project and owns the URL and intellectual property associated with the search engine, Seuss told the New York Times’ Cybertimes that “the Commerce Department does not actually have the authority to halt the service or to change the pricing model.”
Posted May 24, 1999.