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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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