The FOIA provides any person the right to obtain federal agency records unless the record is protected by one of nine exemptions (PDF).

Thats funny. We pay navigraph for our nav data. Guess what, I bet those feesa are going up as well.

Jim, the lobbyists remark was a joke. This issue is done, for either $$ or just to close another freebie as they see it. Costs go up and service goes down.

Hate to say it folks but I doubt an online petition is going to convince them of anything... We went through this back when they took the navdata DAFIF file down too - nothing helped. Amazing how we pay for the creation of this stuff with our tax dollars and then they just take it away though... no reason this shouldn't be public.

I agree with Ryan. Money is the only thing that talks in Washington. You can phone, mail, email and petition til your heart is content. It won't matter. Not sure if you've tuned in to the political world lately, but the voices of the people don't carry much weight here anymore. EDIT, sorry, I take that back. The courts ruled that corporations are people. Their voices DO count. I mean, come on guys. We keep voting in people who cut our services so rich people can keep their tax breaks.

The FOIA provides any person the right to obtain federal agency records unless the record is protected by one of nine exemptions (PDF).

That doesn't mean free of charge.

To those who say this won't do anything...maybe it won't, but it can't hurt to sign it...it literally takes about 10 seconds. And to those who are saying it won't kill our hobby, you obviously don't fly on VATSIM, where real procedures are used, making it a necessity to have charts. And there is no way the average flightsimmer would pay money for charts. If this goes through, we are in real trouble. Both as a real-life private pilot and avid flightsimmer, I would hate to see this happen.Ben

You wanted "hope and change", you got itI wouldn't mind paying a small fee, however making them unavailable to individuals (if that is true), is unconstitutional. But, since when has that been a problem for these unAmerican corrupt fascists? This government has always wanted to eliminate General Aviation, and this is just another step to that end.A revolution is coming. Don't get me started ... Hey, I've always wanted to fly more Australia, Europe, Asia, and Africa, and Canada and Antarctica and South America and New York. and California and other non-American destinations.I'm glad I'm old, but fear for my children and grandchildren.

This is PMDG forum dedicated to flightsim enthusiasts. You need to go to FOX news channel and rant.sam bertien

Quote from a news article,"That means charging fees to companies for those downloads and no longer allowing individuals access them at all"That is going to be challenged under FOIA,And is a conflict of interest,using taxpayers money to generate information to be sold to private corporations for profit,This is fundamentally wrong,I don't see how anyone can defend this.

This is PMDG forum dedicated to flightsim enthusiasts. You need to go to FOX news channel and rant.sam bertien

Flight sim enthusiasts are still pilots. We are in no violation of PMDG Forum rules that I can think of. It is simply people expressing their opinions. Most pilots, like myself, are real world pilots, not simply flight sim enthusiasts.

I thought this meant downloading charts only. I go to the actual FAA site and view them there in pdf format. Will that go away as well?

This is PMDG forum dedicated to flightsim enthusiasts. You need to go to FOX news channel and rant.sam bertien

Ha. Bill O'reilly is a socialist. And you need to learn how to capitalize proper nouns. Or is it too much trouble to move your pinkie to the shift key?

Being a Brazilian educated in an American school, I have always looked up to America regarding these issues. I thought such things were immaculate over there. If you´re a taxpayer and the FAA uses your money to publish information that concerns flight safety, such as AIP, then I think it is your right to have unrestricted access to that information. And everyone should scream at the top of their lungs about it. I might be naive, but I think that the US is one of the few places in the world where politicians still give a crap if enough noise is made. They appear to respect public opinion, or at least fear it. It´s a shame to see that money talks so loudly in Washington (as it does in Brazil´s capital btw) but maybe if enough of a racket is done by thousands of pilots this will blow over and not come to pass. But I´m disappointed this is happening. Not so much for my flight simming, but for the fact that you guys are being deprived of your rights apparently. And, the skies are not going to get any safer if they take that information down. A lot of small time GA pilots will have trouble remaining current in their AIP. I´m not saying they should use it as an excuse, I´m just saying it´s bound to happen.Is it just me or after 2001 the general public started viewing GA as a threat and the government is happily indulging them in this ridiculous notion? I´m not going to discuss this or that administration for two reasons: one, I don´t know enough about American politics to enter said discussion, and two, this is a sensitive subject to most of you and you don´t need a foreigner telling you how things should be at your home. But hopefully Washington will come to its senses. AIP is pretty much free in the rest of this planet. Why shouldn´t it be in America of all places!?

Even approach plates and runway data like on flight aware?mitch bowman

Ha. Bill O'reilly is a socialist. And you need to learn how to capitalize proper nouns. Or is it too much trouble to move your pinkie to the shift key?

And flame war begins in three...two...

I just spent a fortune on my PPL last year, and now looks like after all that I still have to fork out more money.Fact is guys, this petition will bring it to someones attention, but money is money....they are trying to take away welfare, how much longer do you think the free things in life will be free.We are broke, this sucks....we can make noise, and that is about it. Maybe just maybe someone will step up, maybe a couple senators who are actually pilots, and say something. To be honest...if we don't have a celebrity step up soon, we are in trouble...lol....seems America only listens to them nowadays.....just sad.

Then someone whould call Travolta and Ed Norton.