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As government shuts down, so do some .gov websites

On day one of the federal shutdown, Speed Matters checked in at the FCC website, only to find it locked and shuttered, with a link to the commission “orderly shutdown plan.” One could still retrieve FCC documents if you already had the URL. However, on day two, that option was also closed.

As it turns out, according to news reports, the FCC’s actions don’t necessarily hint at what other agencies or commissions are doing during this unfolding drama.

The Washington Post has a continually updated feature entitled “Government shutdown: What’s open, what’s closed.” But that may or may not have anything to do with their websites.

As Ars Technica reports, they looked at some 50-plus different .gov websites. “What emerges is a rather bizarre picture. Nearly all of the agencies we looked at are up, even those with a message about the shutdown. Very few, in fact, have genuinely closed down entirely.” Ars Technica posted their list of up and down sites, but the situation is very much in flux.

Although the conflict at the heart of this shutdown may be a clear-cut fight over the Affordable Care Act, the manifestations are anything but clear.

Plan for Orderly Shutdown Due to Lapse of Congressional Appropriations (FCC, Oct. 1, 2013)

Government shutdown: What’s open, what’s closed (Washington Post, Oct. 1, 2013)
 
Shutdown of US government websites appears bafflingly arbitrary (Ars Technica, Oct. 1, 2013)