FOIAMachine dev here. There are a few projects operating in the space and it seems the more help being offered to get people asking their government for data and documents the better off we'll all be. There's gonna be some overlap, nothing is totally novel and I like to think FOIAMachine builds on some of the great ideas that came before it, including those generated by MuckRock. I see FOIAMachine different in a few ways. It has tighter controls for sharing requests with specific people (or keeping them private). We're building controls so you can make requests more social. What that means is sharing a request with others to build support publicly. And of course, we'll share what users make available via an API. Also, while we're asking for funding now the service will be totally free. It's built so users can help each other. It's built so you have the tools to stay organized. Once the code is done the hosting costs are minimal and it won't need much to keep the lights on and help people create their requests. MuckRock and Alaveteli are great and their creators have done yeoman's work. FOIAMachine approaches the problem from a different angle and I think it'll be a useful tool for a lot of people.