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From: CARTA-L : Canadian Map & GIS Libraries and Archives
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http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1736751,00.html
Free our data
_________________________________________________________________
Ordnance Survey challenged to open up
The inventor of the world wide web wants access to Ordnance Survey
data - and the freedom to manipulate it as he sees fit
SA Mathieson and Michael Cross
Thursday March 23, 2006
Guardian
The inventor of the world wide web has called for more open access to
Ordnance Survey (OS) mapping data - and may get his wish later this
year. Sir Tim Berners-Lee told an Oxford University audience last
week
getting "basic, raw data from Ordnance Survey" online would help
build
the "semantic web", which he defines as a web of data using standard
formats so that relevant data can be found and processed by
computers.
"There's a moral argument that says, for a well-run country, we
should
know where we are, where things are, and that data should be
available," he said.
Berners-Lee said it may be reasonable for OS, the premier state-owned
supplier of public sector information, to continue to charge for its
high-resolution mapping. But even if licences were required, he
added,
OS should make its data open to manipulation. "I want to do something
with the data, I want to be able to join it with all my other data,"
he said. "I want to be able to do Google Maps things to a ridiculous
extent, and not limited in the way that Google Maps is."
The guest lecturer said he had discussed this with OS. "They are
certainly thinking about this and studying what they can do. OS is in
favour of doing the right thing for the country, as well as
maintaining its existence, so I think there's a fair chance we'll
find
mutual agreement."
OS said it was considering opening access to data, through
applications programming interfaces (APIs) for example, but only for
non-commercial use. "If it happens, it will be in the next six months
or so," said Ed Parsons, chief technology officer. Parsons said OS
provides universities with access to its data. "It's about expanding
this to non-academic research," he said. However, those using APIs
would be barred from competing with OS's paying customers, even on a
non-commercial basis. "We're constrained by competition law," said
Parsons. The BBC's Backstage project, which allows non-commercial
re-use of BBC material, is a possible model.
Berners-Lee said this debate was the first of many. "What happens
with
OS is going to be replayed with anonymised medical data, with data
about all kinds of public things." Others, he warned, already provide
more open access to geospatial data, including Google Maps - which
uses OS data - but also those gathering and releasing information for
free. "If you don't make [lower-resolution mapping data] publicly
available, there will be people with their cars and GPS devices,
driving around with their laptops," he said. "They will be
cataloguing
every lane, and enjoying it, driving 4x4s behind your farm at the
dead
of night. There will, if necessary, be a grass-roots remapping."
Meanwhile, according to documents published last week, OS faces
losing
its official status as a fair trader unless it changes the way it
licenses its geographical data. The Office of Public Sector
Information (OPSI), a unit of the cabinet office charged with
promoting fair access to crown copyright data, says there is
substance
to complaints from commercial mapping firms that OS has been
"obstructive and slow" in licensing its data. The inspection renews
OS's accreditation under the government's fair trading scheme, so
long
as the agency acts on recommendations over the next year. OS promised
to do so but accused the inspectors of failing to take into account
the market in which it works.
The report is the second verification of OS's commitment to a
level-playing field in the public sector information market. It said
while the agency is "committed to the principles" of fair trading,
the
practice is sometimes different. It highlights the policy of
licensing
data for specific uses only, which "appears to many potential and
actual users as rigid and unreasonable and does not encourage
re-use".
Another problem is "sub-licensing", in which OS tries to protect its
intellectual property throughout a chain of products using data
derived from its work. Royalties can become payable even when OS data
has become a small component of the end product. The length of time
taken to negotiate licences also comes under fire. In one case, the
protracted process led to the abandonment of a project for the re-use
of data, the report says. It calls on OS to set demanding targets for
cutting the time to negotiate contracts.
The inspection also recommends OS review its terms and conditions to
ensure obligations are not onerous and there is a balance between the
agency and its licensees. OS questions this, saying: "The
relationship
between any licensor and a licensee is inherently imbalanced." It
suggests that, under OPSI's proposals, firms licensing its data would
have the right to decide unilaterally to pay less for it. "We do not
accept the conclusion that we impose onerous terms on licensees."
The biggest potential fall-out between trading fund and regulator may
be over the recommendation OS involve the OPSI in the discussion of
"issues relevant" to the fair trading scheme. OS said it would
consult
OPSI as part of a wider process but it does not accept OPSI as being
directly involved in developing OS policies.
The response also implies the office does not fully understand OS's
duties as a trading fund. "OPSI needs to understand the business
environment and Trading Fund framework in which OS is tasked with
delivering its objectives."
The OPSI report acknowledges OS's position as the most visible
trading
fund "naturally increases its exposure to criticism". It could have
added OS will also be seen as the test case of whether the
government's policy to create a fair trade while encouraging data
owners to behave as commercial entities is workable.
There is a dedicated website and blog for the Free Our Data campaign
at http://www.freeourdata.org.uk
If you'd like to comment on any aspect of Technology Guardian, send
your emails to [log in to unmask]
Guardian Unlimited ; Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
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