[mcculley]

If the fundamental delay to NASA releasing images is leak of proprietary data, that is a pretty good argument against the continued existence of NASA as a public agency.

[s1artibartfast]

Why? Public Agencies work with private parties and individuals all the time. This brings constraints on what they can do with information.

[mcculley]

There is an enormous spectrum between "we cannot release some proprietary data from COTS components" and "we cannot release images without approval from our vendors".

(Not that I am convinced that this is the real reason why NASA is not releasing images quickly.)

[s1artibartfast]

Waiting for approval from vendors is a big difference from NASA reviewing the photos themselves, which was the original claim

[mcculley]

I would find such a delay unacceptable for a public agency. Anything visible in the photos should be releasable.