AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND MATERIALS et al v. PUBLIC.RESOURCE.ORG, INC.

Filing 213

RESPONSE re 202 MOTION for Summary Judgment filed by AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND MATERIALS, AMERICAN SOCIETY OF HEATING, REFRIGERATING, AND AIR-CONDITIONING ENGINEERS, INC., NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION, INC.. (Attachments: # 1 Plaintiffs' Third Supplemental Statement of Material Facts, # 2 Declaration of Thomas O'Brien, # 3 Declaration of Jane W. Wise, # 4 Exhibit 174, # 5 Exhibit 175, # 6 Exhibit 176, # 7 Exhibit 177 (Part 1), # 8 Exhibit 177 (Part 2), # 9 Exhibit 177 (Part 3), # 10 Exhibit 178, # 11 Exhibit 179, # 12 Exhibit 180, # 13 Exhibit 181, # 14 Exhibit 182, # 15 Exhibit 183, # 16 Exhibit 184, # 17 Exhibit 185, # 18 Exhibit 186, # 19 Plaintiffs' Response to Defendant's Statement of Disputed Facts (Redacted), # 20 Plaintiffs' Statement of Disputed Facts and Objections, # 21 Plaintiffs' Response to Defendant's Evidentiary Objections, # 22 Plaintiffs' Opposition to Defendant's Request for Judicial Notice)(Fee, J.)

Exhibit 174

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND
MATERIALS d/b/a/ ASTM INTERNATIONAL;

Case No. 1:13-cv-01215-EGS

NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION
ASSOCIATION, INC.; and

DEFENDANT-COUNTERCLAIMANT
PUBLIC.RESOURCE.ORG, INC.’S
RESPONSE TO PLAINTIFFCOUNTERDEFENDANT AMERICAN
SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND
MATERIALS d/b/a ASTM
INTERNATIONAL’S FIRST SET OF
INTERROGATORIES (NOS. 1-15)

AMERICAN SOCIETY OF HEATING,
REFRIGERATING, AND AIR-CONDITIONING
ENGINEERS, INC.
Plaintiffs,
v.
PUBLIC.RESOURCE.ORG, INC.,
Defendant.
PUBLIC.RESOURCE.ORG, INC.,
Counterclaimant,
v.
AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND
MATERIALS d/b/a/ ASTM INTERNATIONAL;
NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION
ASSOCIATION, INC.; and
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF HEATING,
REFRIGERATING, AND AIR-CONDITIONING
ENGINEERS, INC.
Counterdefendants.

Filed:

August 6, 2013

RESPONSES AND SPECIFIC OBJECTIONS TO INTERROGATORIES
INTERROGATORY NO. 1:
Describe with specificity how Public Resource obtained copies of the Standards at Issue,
including whether it entered into any licenses (including but not limited to shrinkwrap or
clickwrap licenses) that govern the use of any of the Standards at Issue.
RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 1:
Public Resource incorporates its general objections as if fully set forth herein. Public
Resource objects to this interrogatory to the extent it would require Public Resource to come to a
legal conclusion to respond, particularly with respect to the terms “licenses” and “govern.”
Subject to and without waiving the foregoing objections, Public Resource responds as
follows:
Public Resource purchases printed copies from, depending on availability and price, the
NFPA online store, the ASHRAE online store, the ASTM online store, Amazon, Bookmark,
Techstreet, IHS, and various used bookstores. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
33(d), Public Resource will produce the invoices for such orders that are in its custody,
possession, or control. Public Resource believes that to the extent details such as dates, payment
amounts, and product names are available, they may be derived from these invoices. For
Plaintiffs’ convenience, a partial index and PDF files of some invoices are already available at
https://law.resource.org/pub/table05.html.
Public Resource is not aware of entering into any licenses, including “clickwrap” or
“shrinkwrap” licenses that govern the use of any of the Standards at Issue.
INTERROGATORY NO. 2:
Describe with specificity the process Public Resource used to rekey text, convert
graphics, reset mathematical formulas, and/or add metadata to the document headers of any of
the Standards at Issue, including any quality control measures Public Resource used to prevent
the content of the Standards at Issue from being altered.

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RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 2:
Public Resource incorporates its general objections as if fully set forth herein. Public
Resource objects to this interrogatory and to the term “rekey” as vague and ambiguous.
Subject to and without waiving the foregoing objections, Public Resource responds as
follows:
Public Resource procures all the Standards at Issue as paper documents. It then
disassembles them, removing any spines, stuffing, staples, or other extraneous materials. If
necessary, it trims the documents to give them an even border. It then scans the documents on a
Xerox 4250 scanner at 300 or 400 dots per inch. It names each file in a standard manner,
including the standard setting organization, the standard number, and the date. For example,
nfpa.70.2008.pdf.
Public Resource appends a cover sheet to each file consisting of the name of the standard
setting organization, the date, the title, and (most importantly) the specific section of law that
incorporates this specific standard into law. This is an important quality check. If Public
Resource is unable to find a specific incorporation, it does nothing further with the standard and
does not publish it.
The scanning process produces files in PDF format with OCR text. Subject to the quality
check, Public Resource publishes these files on its website.
In some instances, the files undergo a further rekeying process. The first portion involves
a standard industry process known as double-key compare. This consists of each standard being
independently rekeyed by different people and then the results compared to find any
discrepancies. Public Resource uses a vendor called HTC Global Services. The next part of the
rekeying process is cutting each diagram into a separate .jpg file and giving the file a name
consisting of the page number and the image number. This allows the diagram portion(s) of the
law to remain the same while converting the text portion into HTML format. Public Resource
aims for.jpg files with the highest quality possible to maintain accuracy. Next in the process is
encoding the documents into HTML. This involves putting rudimentary metadata in the headers

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and properly encodes tables, headers, special characters, bulleted lists, and numbered lists. The
purpose of this encoding is to ensure accuracy in the process of replicating each particular law.
After receiving the files back from HTC, Public Resource does a number of postprocessing steps. They include checking the HTML code for typographical errors and renaming
all image and html files to Public Resource’s standard naming scheme. With the standard
naming scheme, one may readily associate any image file with the master HTML file simply by
looking at the file name, reducing the likelihood of error. Public Resource then runs each master
HTML file through a link check to make sure images are not missing, a HTML validity check to
make sure that all the code is valid, and a final quality check to look for any discrepancies.
At this point, Public Resource publishes the valid HTML files.
Not all documents go to the next step. Documents that do tend to have important graphic
content or are considered critical to the public safety. Public Resource sends the HTML and
image files to its graphic and formula contractor, Point.B Studio in Oregon. Point.B is under
strict instructions to replicate any formula or graphic exactly as in the original. If that is not
possible, it leaves the image as-is.
Point.B Studio then returns to Public Resource a set of files, including a master HTML
file properly encoded to use SVG graphics. This new HTML file includes code referencing any
new SVG graphics. If there is not a new SVG file, that portion of the code in the master HTML
files does not change. The SVG files that are suitable for publication are in a file format of the
SVG standard that works on most browsers and mobile devices. Public Resource also receives a
source directory with SVG master files that are suitable for editing in a graphics program such as
Adobe Illustrator.
Once Public Resource receives the files back, it validates the .svg.html files to make sure
they are valid HTML and that all links are valid. Public Resource also reviews the graphics
directory in “very large icon” mode. In this mode, it can view a thumbnail of every JPG file and
every SVG file at 512x512 pixels size. By reviewing the two files side by side, Public Resource
checks to see if the images match. In the case of more complicated graphics, Public Resource

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conducts spot checks by viewing the files in a larger size.
Public Resource then publishes the SVG HTML file and master SVG files on its website.
To the best of Public Resource’s knowledge, this process is highly accurate and has not
resulted in alteration to any of the Standards at Issue which are incorporated by reference into
law. Nevertheless, Public Resource stands ready to make corrections if any member of the
public, including any of the Plaintiffs, alerts Public Resource to any error.
INTERROGATORY NO. 3:
Identify all persons who assisted in rekeying text, converting graphics, resetting
mathematical formulas and/or adding metadata to document headers of any of the Standards at
Issue.
RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 3:
Public Resource incorporates its general objections as if fully set forth herein. Public
Resource objects to this interrogatory and to the term “rekey” as vague and ambiguous. Public
Resource objects to this interrogatory as outside the scope of discovery to the extent it calls for
information that is not within Public Resource’s knowledge. Public Resource objects to this
interrogatory as overly broad and unduly burdensome to the extent it seeks information about
entities other than Public Resource. Public Resource objects to this interrogatory to the extent it
calls for the disclosure of information that is protected by any individual’s right of privacy.
Subject to and without waiving the foregoing objections, Public Resource responds as
follows:
Public Resource incorporates by reference its response to Interrogatory No. 2.
Public Resource further responds that it is aware of the following persons:
Public Resource employee Carl Malamud directed and supervised HTC Global Services,
Inc. in the rekeying of text and HTML conversion, where applicable, to some of the Standards at
Issue. Mr. Malamud also directed and supervised Point.B Studio in the conversion of graphics
and resetting of mathematical formulas, where applicable, to some of the Standards at Issue. Mr.
Malamud also personally performed HTML conversion and publication activities, where

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