[OSGeo-Discuss] Canadian Government provides more free data access

[Dave Patton]

http://www.geogratis.ca/geogratis/en/whatsnew.html

April 2, 2007 - In response to demands from users for
no fee access to framework geographic data and the
increasing technological shift in the marketplace,
Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), is pleased to
announce that starting April 1st 2007, the Earth
Sciences Sector (ESS) will change the way its
Digital Topographic Data (DTD) can be accessed.

On April 1st, 2007, NRCan will start to make its
existing DTD products available through the
Geogratis Web portal (http://www.geogratis.ca).
By combining the functionality from the current
On line Purchasing and Subscribers Web sites,
the user will be provided with no fee access
to DTD products. Under the new distribution policy,
commercial licenses will no longer be required,
as all users will obtain rights for unlimited use
and royalty free distribution of the data through
a single unrestricted use license agreement.

NRCan is pleased to expand no fee access to its
collection of digital topographic data products.
After extensive consultations with other federal
agencies and stakeholders, followed by the development
of supporting technical systems, NRCan has begun the
transition to this new approach to data access.
We recognize the importance of providing geospatial
information to Canadians to enable users to customize
applications which benefit from integrated geographic
information. We are keeping pace with advances in all
areas of mapping to ensure that everyone can benefit
from "no fee" topographic data through the use of
cutting edge technology. Through our ongoing
partnerships with stakeholders, we will continue to
develop our topographic products to meet the needs
of Canadian groups and individuals in the private
sector, academia and government.


-- 
Dave Patton

Canadian Coordinator, Degree Confluence Project
http://www.confluence.org/

Personal website - Maps, GPS, etc.
http://members.shaw.ca/davepatton/