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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Dear OSGeo Community,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Should this also be broadcast in the geospatial newsletters? Like MundoGeo, Sensors and Systems, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">I don’t know how to get these online publications to run the story, but we should give them the opportunity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">The subject may not be
</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">endearing to corporate sponsors, but it is undoubtedly the right thing to do.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Our ability to communicate freely, data exchange included, seems an essential element to the life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">And why Martin Isenburg has worked so beautifully for so long! The classic David vs Goliath story!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">It is now time for us to stand with him and stand strong, decidedly in the interest of all.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><a href="http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/LIDAR_Format_Letter">http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/LIDAR_Format_Letter</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">-Patrick<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""> ica-osgeo-labs-bounces@lists.osgeo.org [mailto:ica-osgeo-labs-bounces@lists.osgeo.org]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Suchith Anand<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, April 13, 2015 10:30 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> discuss@lists.osgeo.org; ica-osgeo-labs@lists.osgeo.org; tc-discuss@lists.opengeospatial.org<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Ica-osgeo-labs] Open Letter for the need for Open Standards in LiDAR<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black">To all colleagues in Academia, Government and Industry who have interest in maintaining Open Standards:</span></strong><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black">On behalf of
<strong><span style="font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">"Geo for All"</span></strong> community,
<a href="http://www.geoforall.org/">http://www.geoforall.org</a>, I would like to bring to your kind attention a significant development that can lead to undermining our principle for Open Geospatial Standards. I request you review the wikipage
<a href="http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/LIDAR_Format_Letter">http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/LIDAR_Format_Letter</a> that is meant to represent our concern and allow for ongoing input and expression by our geospatial community.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black">We specifically thank Martin Isenburg (author of LASzip and LAStools,
<a href="http://laszip.org/">http://laszip.org</a> and <a href="http://lastools.org/">
http://lastools.org</a>) for bringing this matter to our attention (email below) and an email thread of our initial discussion of this subject that highlight the wider implication of this issue
<a href="http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/ica-osgeo-labs/2015-March/001225.html">
http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/ica-osgeo-labs/2015-March/001225.html</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black">We request all who wish to support this effort to protect Open Standards for Geospatial data to kindly add your name , email, affiliation details to the wikipage
directly or email <strong><span style="font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">Patrick Hogan</span></strong> (Email -
<a href="mailto:patrick.hogan@nasa.gov">patrick.hogan@nasa.gov</a> ) with the subject heading
<strong><span style="font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">"Support for Open Geo Standards"</span></strong> and the following fields (Name, Email, Affiliation ) and we will gladly add this to the wiki.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black">There is current interest by the OGC in pursuing point cloud encoding standards, including a member-initiated mechanism to extend LAS data with OGC-standard XML
content. The OGC invites interested members who wish to work on this effort to please contact
<strong><span style="font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">Scott Simmons</span></strong> (Executive Director, Standards Program E-mail :
<a href="mailto:ssimmons@opengeospatial.org">ssimmons@opengeospatial.org</a> ) to register their interest and discuss details. OGC will also be holding an ad hoc session at our next Technical Committee meeting in Boulder, CO, USA in June 1st (more details
will be send soon) to bring together all interested from all sectors (government, industry, academia) for this and plan next steps. We welcome feedback and input from Esri and invite them to join this effort to support open LIDAR formats.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black">I thank you all again for your attention and support for this important matter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black">Best wishes,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black">Suchith Anand<br>
Founder, GeoForAll<br>
<a href="http://www.geoforall.org/">http://www.geoforall.org</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"><br>
<br>
-------- Forwarded Message -------- <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="text-align:right"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Subject:
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Please review: Open Letter asking to avoid format fragmentation in LiDAR standards<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="text-align:right"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Date:
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Sat, 11 Apr 2015 12:14:51 +1000<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="text-align:right"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">From:
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Cameron Shorter <a href="mailto:cameron.shorter@gmail.com">
<cameron.shorter@gmail.com></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="text-align:right"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">To:
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><a href="mailto:standards@lists.osgeo.org">standards@lists.osgeo.org</a>
<a href="mailto:standards@lists.osgeo.org"><standards@lists.osgeo.org></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"><br>
<br>
Hi all,<br>
A number of us have been collaboratively developing an Open Letter asking key stakeholders to avoid fragmentation in LiDAR standards.<br>
<br>
It starts:<br>
<i>We, the undersigned, are concerned that the current interoperability between LiDAR applications, through use of the open "LAS" format, is being threatened by ESRI's introduction and promotion of an alternative "Optimized LAS" proprietary format. This is
of concern since the fragmentation of the LAS format will lead to reduced interoperability between applications and organisations, and introduce vendor lock-in.</i><br>
<br>
Could all interested please:<br>
1. Review and provide feedback to this standards email list<br>
2. If you agree with the letter, please add your name to the "Signed" section<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<pre><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">-- <o:p></o:p></span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Cameron Shorter,<o:p></o:p></span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Software and Data Solutions Manager<o:p></o:p></span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">LISAsoft<o:p></o:p></span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Suite 112, Jones Bay Wharf,<o:p></o:p></span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">26 - 32 Pirrama Rd, Pyrmont NSW 2009<o:p></o:p></span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">P +61 2 9009 5000, W <a href="http://www.lisasoft.com" target="_blank">www.lisasoft.com</a>, F +61 2 9009 5099<o:p></o:p></span></pre>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<pre><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></pre>
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