conduct more methodological and comprehensive assessments of government performance,as well as to consult with government agencies and assist citizens with access questions and issues.[11]The Chinese AIDS organization Aizhixing reported relative success during 2009 in obtaining requested information about government policies on protecting and caring for Chinese afflicted with HIV/AIDS,although they had to resort to administrative appeals and litigation,not always successfully,in some cases.[12] Chinese lawyers are also beginning to file OGI requests in their search for evidence to support their cases.In October 2008,a lawyer brought the first OGI case accepted by a court against a provincial-level government.The case involved four residents in Anhui province who appealed against a decision ordering them to dismantle their homes to make way for a construction project. When the administrative appeal was suspended indefinitely pending internal clarification of unspecified laws and policies,and attempts to then file a lawsuit were rejected by the courts. their lawyer turned to the Regulations to seek information about what documents in the case needed to be"clarified,"and filed suit when the provincial government failed to respond to the OGI request.[13]The Hefei Intermediate Court five days later held the information did not need to be disclosed because it was part of an ongoing administrative appeal.[14]However,the lawyer later reported that,despite his defeat in court,three of the four residents'cases had been resolved and that he was still working on the fourth.[15] A well-known lawyer named Hao Jinsong unsuccessfully requested information in October 2008 from several Shanghai agencies,including the Shanghai Zhabei Public Security Bureau,on the renowned case of Yang Jia,who was given the death penalty for killing six policemen after he was allegedly beaten.[161 A Shanghai lawyer filed OGI requests with some 18 agencies and the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Administrative Enforcement Unit,after several drivers were allegedly entrapped in a scheme to crack down on illegal taxis.[17]In March 2010,Beijing lawyer Li Fanping filed an OGI request with the Shanxi Health Bureau for information responsive to parents'unanswered complaints about deaths and illnesses of their children who received allegedly defective vaccines.[18]While most of these requests were apparently rejected, the lawyers were able to elicit media attention to their cases and,in some cases,obtain access to officials in the relevant government agencies and partial responses. Second,many Chinese citizens are obtaining information from government,either because government is disseminating an increasingly wide range of information on its own initiative as required by the Regulations;in response to their OGI requests;or after filing administrative appeals or lawsuits. The Regulations require government to disclose on its own initiative a broad range of information about its operations and that is deemed to be of particular interest to the public using a variety of channels ranging from public libraries,government offices and the Internet. Even prior to the Regulations,government agencies were releasing and posting on their websites an ever increasing amount of information,although they recognize that texts of regulations and speeches by leaders are not necessarily what the people most want to know about.Now many government websites have special OGI columns,leaders'mailboxes and chatroom capability, although a study conducted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences of government websites toward the end of 2009 found that many websites are not well-organized and operable.[19] freedominfo.org 4-23-2010 Page 3freedominfo.org     4‐23‐2010  Page 3  conduct more methodological and comprehensive assessments of government performance, as well as to consult with government agencies and assist citizens with access questions and issues.[11] The Chinese AIDS organization Aizhixing reported relative success during 2009 in obtaining requested information about government policies on protecting and caring for Chinese afflicted with HIV/AIDS, although they had to resort to administrative appeals and litigation, not always successfully, in some cases.[12] Chinese lawyers are also beginning to file OGI requests in their search for evidence to support their cases. In October 2008, a lawyer brought the first OGI case accepted by a court against a provincial-level government. The case involved four residents in Anhui province who appealed against a decision ordering them to dismantle their homes to make way for a construction project. When the administrative appeal was suspended indefinitely pending internal clarification of unspecified laws and policies, and attempts to then file a lawsuit were rejected by the courts, their lawyer turned to the Regulations to seek information about what documents in the case needed to be “clarified,” and filed suit when the provincial government failed to respond to the OGI request.[13] The Hefei Intermediate Court five days later held the information did not need to be disclosed because it was part of an ongoing administrative appeal.[14] However, the lawyer later reported that, despite his defeat in court, three of the four residents’ cases had been resolved and that he was still working on the fourth.[15] A well-known lawyer named Hao Jinsong unsuccessfully requested information in October 2008 from several Shanghai agencies, including the Shanghai Zhabei Public Security Bureau, on the renowned case of Yang Jia, who was given the death penalty for killing six policemen after he was allegedly beaten.[16] A Shanghai lawyer filed OGI requests with some 18 agencies and the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Administrative Enforcement Unit, after several drivers were allegedly entrapped in a scheme to crack down on illegal taxis.[17] In March 2010, Beijing lawyer Li Fanping filed an OGI request with the Shanxi Health Bureau for information responsive to parents’ unanswered complaints about deaths and illnesses of their children who received allegedly defective vaccines.[18] While most of these requests were apparently rejected, the lawyers were able to elicit media attention to their cases and, in some cases, obtain access to officials in the relevant government agencies and partial responses. Second, many Chinese citizens are obtaining information from government, either because government is disseminating an increasingly wide range of information on its own initiative as required by the Regulations; in response to their OGI requests; or after filing administrative appeals or lawsuits. The Regulations require government to disclose on its own initiative a broad range of information about its operations and that is deemed to be of particular interest to the public, using a variety of channels ranging from public libraries, government offices and the Internet. Even prior to the Regulations, government agencies were releasing and posting on their websites an ever increasing amount of information, although they recognize that texts of regulations and speeches by leaders are not necessarily what the people most want to know about. Now many government websites have special OGI columns, leaders’ mailboxes and chatroom capability, although a study conducted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences of government websites toward the end of 2009 found that many websites are not well–organized and operable.[19]