CM/ECF To Public: Brother, You Must Now Spare a Dime.

 Some government robot somewhere kind federal employee emailed me this on Friday:

An increase in the electronic public access (EPA) fee, from eight cents to 10 cents per page, will take effect on April 1, 2012.

Earlier this month, the Judicial Conference of the United States authorized an increase in the federal judiciarys electronic public access fee in response to increasing costs for maintaining and enhancing the electronic public access system.

The change is needed to support and improve the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system, and to develop and implement the next generation of the judiciarys Case Management/Electronic Case Filing system.

The EPA fee has not been increased since 2005. As mandated by Congress, the EPA program is funded entirely through user fees set by the Conference. 

Note to RECAP users -- your access is not free, either.

Somebody went ahead and fronted the fee so you can glom on like the cheapskate moocher you are.

But don't worry about me, enjoy the free access (that's my mother impression I've been working on).