I am not a lawyer, but it seems like even the NDA would benefit from computer industry professional input. There's no carve out for information that is available publicly through no fault of either party, no term (does it expire at the end of the committee and then the info is no longer secret?), and perhaps most important of all, no apparent penalty for disclosure save removal from the committee.
Check out Wikipedia on the subject and Google "Non Disclosure Agreement" if you've got any spare time:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-disclosure_agreementNote that this NDA was part of the reason the ACLU refused to participate, should we be worried that the other parties didn't consider this important aspect or don't value open governance of our elections?
From the ACLU letter to Josh Liss and the Commissioners:"Second, the ACLU supports open government and opposes excessive government secrecy and confidentiality. The confidentiality agreement you have asked the ACLU to sign would preclude our Chapter board representative from disclosing any information about the work of the RPF Evaluation Team to other Board members, our nearly 2,500 Boulder Couny ACLU members who we represent, or to the public. This is unacceptable to the ACLU, particularly given the fundamental voting rights issues involved that demand full and open public disclosure and participation."
What a great way to try and get someone locked in, make them sign the NDA and when they don't get to say anything publicly, then say "But you were on the panel!"...will the Ds or Rs or Ls on the panel simply rubber stamp it or do they get to dissent, especially if paper ballot resolutions pass at caucus this year?
Joe On Mar 13, 2006, at 8:39 AM, Neal McBurnett wrote:
On Sun, Mar 12, 2006 at 09:33:51AM -0700, Some Guy wrote:I'm thinking that you could have asked one of the members of the committeewhat they had agreed to do or signed and they might have shown you.Joe posted his message after I asked the Chair of the committee (Josh Liss) for a copy, as already noted below. I see no reason for Josh to put me off yet again by suggesting an Open Records Request.Showing you the agreement divulges nothing. Members of this list have signed this document.BINGO. I would of course be most appreciative if someone who knows more were to help us out - e.g. by confirming Joe's text. -NealSG -----Original Message----- From: Joe Pezzillo [mailto:jpezzillo@xxxxxxxxx] Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2006 1:12 PM To: CVV Voting Subject: Re: RFP Evaluation Team NDA On Mar 10, 2006, at 10:51 PM, Neal McBurnett wrote:The team members also have already signed a confidentiality agreement of some sort. (That will be modified now that they are using the openmeetings procedures.) I asked Liss for a copy, and he suggested I'dneed to do an open records request for that. Amazing - secrecy aboutthe secrecy agreements! It is so infectious it gets downright silly if you can retain your sense of humor.I got your open records request right here: