Federal Register 2.0 Beta to Launch Today

According to the National Archives' official press release FR 2.0 Beta will go live today at FederalRegister.gov to gather public feedback. It will remain an unofficial informational resource until the Administrative Committee of the Federal Register issues a regulation granting it official legal status. That may occur in 2011. One of the objectives of this unofficial XML prototype is to test the idea of freeing the Federal Register from its print-based structure while providing official PDFs for authentication. From the press release:

FR 2.0 uses the bulk XML from GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys) to present regulatory material in new configurations.  The applications on the site are built from open source code, which will be returned to the open source community for unrestricted use in other applications.

See National Archives Unveils New Federal Register 2.0 Web Site to Mark 75th Anniversary for more ("The new web site takes advantage of social media and integrates seamlessly with Regulations.gov and the Unified Agenda to make it easy for users to submit comments directly into the official e-Rulemaking docket, and view the history of rulemaking activity through a regulatory timeline.").

The FR 2.0 public handout publishes a number of annotated screen captures, including the image above left (click to enlarge), which highlights features of FR 2.0 Beta. Commercial legal publishers who might already be preparing the case for lobbying against the wholesale distribution features of LAW.GOV by arguing that this should be left to the private sector might want to take note of this development. Of course, they might have a hard time persuading Congress that the federal government should leave this to the private sector after our elected representatives are provided information about how much the federal government is paying for WEXIS licenses.

Making Way for FR 2.0 Beta. Earlier OFR and the GPO gave users a heads-up to reset bookmarks before July 26, 2010:

The Office of the Federal Register (OFR) and the Government Printing Office (GPO) are moving the Federal Register Home Page and the Public Inspection Desk to www.OFR.gov. Please reset your bookmarks before July 26, 2010. This change is necessary to make way for a new edition the daily Federal Register, an unofficial “Web 2.0” prototype, which will be hosted on FederalRegister.gov.

The Federal Register Home Page on OFR.gov will continue to feature the electronic Public Inspection Desk (www.ofr.gov/inspection.aspx), the Privacy Act Issuances for 2007 and 2009 (http://www.ofr.gov/Privacy/AGENCIES.aspx), and the OFR Catalog, which links to all Federal Register publications and services.

[JH]