WAPI News

THE INFORMATION COMMISSIONER -V- THE MEDIA + Investigators!!

An interesting comment from one of the UK's most respected of newspapers!
 
It would seem that the Media are getting on to the same wavelength as WAPI!!
 
The desire of the IC to imprison PI's and Journalists for accessing information which in many countries is legally available, demonstrates a serious inability to recognise that the Public at-large have no wish to see such restrictions on investigative services in both the private and public interest spheres.
 
It is almost beyond belief that whilst serious criminals committing crimes of violence are being "pushed out" into the community - as prisons are bursting at the seams, the IC wishes to stuff the Jails with PI's and Journalists - whose functions are on many occasions to weed out and deal with fraudsters and the like!!
 
When will they wake-up??
 
I have commented to the Times as follows:
 
In my capacity as Chairman of the World Association of Professional Investigators (400+ PI Members) - We are appalled at the IC attitude towards the investigative community - Private & Media! The desire to fill overcrowded prisons with PI's and now Journalists is (in my view) totally contrary to what the UK Public would desire or sanction! Whilst Sex Offenders and Violent Criminals are being forced back into the community, it seems as if the information gatherers will take over the prison communities. It is vital for a Free Society to have alternative investigative options to the State, and a severely curtailed Police Service (thanks to EU Social Law DPA/HRA) - The Authorities should determine criminality on a basis of "purpose" (mens rea) - the intent of the information gatherer - if for lawful purpose (tracing debtors, ID thieves and/or Public Interest - Media) there is no criminal intent, and Civil Actions are available for those effected and wishing to seek redress. 
 
Ian (D. Withers)  -  Chairman
WAPI  -  World  Association
of Professional Investigators
Chairman@WAPI.com
Tel: +44 79 7064 5420
www.wapi.com

 
Living in a Stalinist blackout
By Heather Brooke - The Times - August 11, 2006

THE Information Commissioner thinks that journalists should be imprisoned for up to two years for paying private detectives to obtain information. This same commissioner took almost two years to fudge a decision on the release of the Attorney-General’s advice on the Iraq war — more than a year after it had been leaked. And that’s one of the more optimistic examples of how long it takes reporters to access official information legitimately.
No wonder British journalists resort to nefarious means to get information that in other countries is freely available. It amazes me that hacks manage to ferret out any hard news in such a Stalinist blackout.

If you think bugging phones is amoral or shady then think about the kind of society that restricts freedom to such an extent that this is the only way a member of the public — journalists have no more rights than you — can get his hands on information in a timely way.
How else can a reporter investigate the Royal Family when it is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, virtually unaccountable to Parliament and all its staff must sign a fearsome gagging order? There is no legitimate way to get facts on the Royal Family. We don’t even know how much taxpayers’ money it sucks up. The cost of keeping the Queen as head of state was £36.7 million in 2005, according to the Keeper of the Privy Purse. But this omits the immense cost of security, tax breaks and income generated from assets deemed to be held for the nation, but that the nation cannot see, such as art in the Royal Collection.
Some say that the Royal Family ought not to be held to public account. Fine. But what about the police, courts and Whitehall? Surely we have a right to know what they are up to? Not so. Criminal and court records, arrest bookings and police incident reports are the bread and butter of American journalism. Such records are used to check facts and examine the truth of official rhetoric. In the UK, all this information is off-limits. Even getting a list of local council restaurant inspections took me almost a year. If such information is suppressed what hope is there for investigating more serious issues?
Don’t mistake the authorities’ crackdown as a matter for journalists alone. When those who are paid to dig out facts find it nigh impossible to do so legitimately, no one else stands a chance.
 

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