[OSGeodata] FOIA and VMAP1 anyone?

[Tyler Mitchell]

On 7-Jul-06, at 12:03 PM, Chris Holmes wrote:

> Hey all, was wondering if anyone here might be excited about doing  
> Freedom of Information requests and legal action on full VMAP1  
> datasets?

Excited?  Not me...I don't know what the US culture thinks about FOIA  
requests but they are often seen as highly controversial and  
antagonistic in my Canadian experience.  Is there no way that we  
could work with these agencies and build bridges instead of litigation?

This early on, I suggest that it would be a mistake to take on such a  
political/legal approach via OSGeo.  I think some members could  
easily see this as a bit crazy.  I think we should be aiming to find  
ways to get closer to the action and decision-makers to find some  
common ways of helping by leveraging this data.  I like Jo's idea of  
developing some trust and trying to help make the data available.  If  
we can do that, then it will be something we can be clearly proud of  
and show our usefulness.

Interesting discussion though, that's for sure - but as a polite  
Canadian, litigation is dirty word.  :)
Tyler


On 7-Jul-06, at 12:03 PM, Chris Holmes wrote:

> Hey all, was wondering if anyone here might be excited about doing  
> Freedom of Information requests and legal action on full VMAP1  
> datasets?