[GLLUG] Document formats

[Steve Parker]

On 27/08/14 22:51, Alain Williams wrote:
> Just in case you ever wondered what was wrong with proprietary document formats:
>
>      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-28953299
>
> Records of landmark US civil rights cases presided over by one of the country's most senior judges
> have been removed from the internet.
>
> The state-run Public Access to Court Electronic Records (Pacer) service deleted numerous court
> documents deemed incompatible with a software upgrade.
>
What seems particularly strange is that they have not deleted the data, 
simply stopped sharing (well, selling) it over the internet to the public:
" Lawyers and others who often interact with US courts have a separate 
system to access court records - one which is significantly more 
expensive, but nonetheless grants access to the same documents."

I can't see where it says that it's due to proprietary file formats, 
though - https://www.pacer.gov/announcements/general/webpacer.html 
(liked from the BBC article) suggests that their old home-grown system 
is being replaced, and the new system is incapable of processing those files
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