U.S. District Court Requires Release

On June 28, 2000, the U.S. District Court in Tampa granted a Motion for Summary Judgment to a publishing and media companies and order the U.S. Department of Commerce to release records from 1996 to 1999, showing the identities of persons or entities who were granted licenses to export goods or services to Cuba and the nature of the goods or services. In doing so, the court rejected arguments of the Commerce Department that the material should be confidential and rejected arguments of the Commerce Department that its authority could be guaranteed by ?executive order rather than statute. The Times Publishing Company (?The Times?) and Media General Operations, Inc., d/b/a The Tampa Tribune (?The Tribune?) brought a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. §552, to require the U.S. Department of Commerce to release the above-mentioned records on licenses for exports to Cuba...[more]