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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Is there any effort at the OSGeo to advocate for “reasonable”
access to publicly funded geospatial data? By reasonable I mean:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>[1] With an affordable price reflecting the actual cost to reproduce
the data.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>[2] Released in a format that doesn’t require expensive
proprietary software.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>For example, the United States Forest Service has some extensive
geospatial data sets available to the public, but they release it in ESRI
Geodatabase Format. (They didn’t respond to my requests for the data in
Shapefile Format.) Another example is one of my local counties, which sells
data in ESRI Shapefile format for $200 a layer under a very strict license
agreement. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>I was wondering if there was any type of “committee” or
other organized effort at the OSGeo that provided “education” and
advocacy for reasonable access to publicly funded data. It seems like a natural
fit for the organization, and one great way to enable everyday use of open
source GIS programs. (At a minimum, it seems like we could keep a catalog of
public agencies and there policy for the release of geospatial data.)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Landon<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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