Campaign Finance

• Several major trade groups have started up super PACs in advance of the 2012 elections. These groups, who already operate traditional PACs, include environmental, trade, and labor interests. (The Hill)
• Republican presidential contenders and their affiliated super PACs spent $11 million on television advertising in heavily contested Super Tuesday states. In Ohio, around $89,000 was spent for each available delegate. (National Journal)
• If Facebook proceeds with plans to hold an Initial Public Offering later this year many newly minted millionaires are expected to emerge. Political observers are expecting them to pour some of their new found wealth into politics. (Politico)

Government

• XML.gov is among the federal websites scheduled to be shut down as part of the government’s dot-gov reform plans. XML, which enhances information sharing and is easily searchable, has generally lost out in government to simpler and more graphically advanced formats. (Next Gov)
• The OMB re-launched the Federal IT Dashboard on Tuesday. The dashboard, which was created to track government technology spending, has been updated with more detailed information. (Next Gov)
• The U.S. government claims it has the right to seize .com, .net, and .org domain names because the companies that administer them are based in America. (Wired)

• A campaign to reform the EU’s access to documents regulation is underway. Activists hope to strengthen the right of access to EU documents. (Access-Info)