[OSGeo-Discuss] Promoting freely available geodata

[Arnulf Christl]

On Fri, March 30, 2007 06:36, Tim Bowden wrote:
> On Thu, 2007-03-29 at 08:22 +1000,
> nicholas.g.lawrence at mainroads.qld.gov.au wrote:
>> discuss-bounces at lists.osgeo.org wrote on 28/03/2007 04:45:26 PM:
>>
>> > On of the aims of OSGeo is the promotion of open geodata.  From
>> > conversations I've had with various people over time it appears one of
>> > the difficulties data providers may have with this is licensing.
>> > There's no obvious candidate license for open geodata.  Do we need
>> > something like OSI approved licenses for geodata?  Are there any
>> > existing OSI licenses that suit?  If so, we should be pointing to
>> them.
>> > Do we need input from those with a legal clue?  Should we be talking
>> to
>> > OSI about this?
>>
>> > Just thought I'd raise the issue and see what others think.
>>
>> > Tim Bowden
>>
>> I can report that the government in Queensland, Australia is
>> considering the creative commons liscence for releasing publically-
>> available geodata. It is not final, but close to it.
>>
>> nick
>
> Nick, this is great news.  Can't wait for this idea to infect other
> govt's in our region.  The idea that user pays /in every instance/ has
> taken hold much too firmly down here (especially when we have already
> paid through our taxes!).
>
> Regards,
> Tim Bowden

Several states in Germany (we are federal, everybody runs in a different
direction) are also considering to use a CC license to protect some of
their data and publish it for Open and Free access. We are currently
trying to convince them that the non-commercial-use clause might be more
anti-commercial in its effect than it will help them to earn money but
whichever way it goes, it is the right overall direction. This is one
exmaple of what is there already: http://www.geoportal.rlp.de/ Btw: The
portal is built on Open Source completely. Some 70+ services are already
available, they come in all makes and colors. Most of the data is
currently not protected by any license at all, some have a copyright tag
somewhere. It is a pain, but it is getting better. Never stop talking to
them, they need all the moral support they can get. :-)

Regards,
Arnulf Christl