The law is not always free in the United States. This might not seem like news to some, if they’re assuming the subject is the court system and the high cost of legal representation. But the focus here is not the legal system, but actually knowing what the law is, as in what it says on paper.

In many instances, an American cannot learn the details of a given law without paying for this knowledge, which is why some statutes are referred to as being behind a paywall.

An example of a paywall situation involves workplace safety rules. For an employer to know the dos and don’ts of providing a risk-free office, they must purchase 200 different documents from a private standards developing organization.

There are some who object to forcing people to pay for knowing the law, but trying to buck this system can prove costly in a different way, like being sued.

Activist Carl Malamud took it upon himself to provide some federal standards online so people could be informed without opening up their wallets. This action got Malamud into hot water, and he now faces the possibility of being taken to court.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Breaking the Law, by Reading It (by Eric Mill, Sunlight Foundation)

Liberating America's Secret, For-Pay Laws (by Carl Malamud, Boing Boing)