Public records and aerial photography

In the Greenwich Time:

[Connecticut]'s highest court will now decide a landmark public records case involving access to aerial reconnaissance photographs and maps of Greenwich.

The town maintains the images in a tightly kept database known as a geographic information system, which a judge declared to be public records last December.

The Connecticut Supreme Court announced Monday that it will hear the town's appeal of that ruling, expediting the case by leap-frogging the state Appellate Court.

The move virtually coincides with the third anniversary of the initial complaint in the case, which Greenwich resident and computer consultant Stephen Whitaker filed with the state Freedom Information Commission after the town denied his request for an electronic copy of the entire database for security and privacy reasons.

Needless to say (but I'm saying it anyway), the outcome of this case should set an important precedent. (Via Slashdot)