[OSGeodata] USGS DRGs being held to ransom!

[Putler, Dan]

Hi Jo,

The State of California, through the California Spatial Information  
Library (CaSIL), makes the 1:250K, the 1:100K, and 1:24K USGS DRGs  
for California available to the public over the web. The main CaSIL  
site is:

http://gis.ca.gov/index.epl

The DRGs are housed at UC Davis, where they provide a web interface  
for accessing the data. The URL for this site is:

  http://drg.casil.ucdavis.edu/

It turns out that the projection used for the California DRGs  
(California Teale Albers, available for both NAD27 and NAD83 datums)  
is different that what is used for other US states.

Dan

On 27-Aug-06, at 3:17 PM, Jo Walsh wrote:

> dear geodata posse,
>
> I had not run across this project before - http://libre.redjar.org/ 
> maps/
> - an effort to collect and freely redistribute 1:24K USGS DRGs. Now
> the maintainer is becoming desperate: [[ I am holding every 1:24,000
> scale DRG topographic map hostage ]] - http://ransom.redjar.org
>
> Once the dataset escapes captivity, it could be a great candidate to
> stick behind a WMS on the repository at telascience.
>
> Commentary and/or related art would be gratefully received, i think.
>
> cheers,
>
>
> jo
> ----- Forwarded message from Jared <jared at redjar.org> -----
>
> Delivered-To: jo at vishnu.tridity.org
> To: jo at frot.org
> From: Jared <jared at redjar.org>
> Subject: Free the Maps!
> Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2006 16:59:47 -0400
>
> Hi Jo,
>
> I've read about Public Geo Data project and was hoping you could help
> me out with a similar project I've been working on in the US.  While
> the map/gis data that the US government creates is Public Domain,
> they still charge for actually getting the data.  2.5 years ago I
> started the Libre Map Project: http://libre.redjar.org/maps
> The goal is obtain this data and make it available for free via the
> Internet.  I've primarily been focused on collecting DRG topographic
> maps to begin with.  It has been a slow process.  So I've decided to
> turn it up a notch by using the "Ransom Model".
>
> I've purchased all the US DRG's (digital topographic maps) from a
> USGS business partner.  The Internet Archive has agreed to host the
> data, but before I hand over the data, I've put up a $1600 ransom
> that must be met through donations and purchases of the data on DVD.
> Once the ransom is met, every map will be made Freely available for
> download.
>
> My motivation is strictly to make this data Freely available for
> others.  I'm hoping that you can help out by spreading the word about
> the project.  If you have questions or any other feedback, please let
> me know.
>
> The map ransom page is here:
> http://ransom.redjar.org/
>
> Thanks for your time.
> -jared
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----

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