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| GeoCommunity Mailing List |
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| Mailing List Archives |
| Subject: | RE: [gislist] GIS Data Licensing |
| Date: |
08/27/2003 02:25:01 PM |
| From: |
JONATHAN BYRON |
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> Our City is researching how to sell/distribute our GIS data to data
> resellers. Currently, our GIS data license agreement prohibits
> someone from
> acquiring our data and redistributing or selling it to others. The City =
...
I'm at a municipal govt. Most of what we do is public and subject to the =
state "sunshine law."
Speaking for myself, I don't see a problem with others improving our data =
and reselling for a profit. The material is in the public domain. =
Companies pay taxes on any profits, although it may go to the federal =
government and the city where the corporate HQ is located, not our fair =
city. As long as the base data is freely available to all, it is a =
win-win situation. The public has access to information, and entrepenuers =
are free to compete in the value added arena. =20
As far as making money from others who redistribute public data, that =
becomes tricky. What about the political costs - the public has already =
collectively paid for the data to be gathered and processed, and now they =
have to pay individually for access to it. Will the police department =
send a bill for $200 to the little old lady who got mugged and called 911? =
Or do taxes cover police services? Should there be more toll roads to =
ease congestion in cities, or do we pay enough in gasoline taxes? As =
Dmitri suggested, this is an issue that is better answered by the =
community than a lawyer or any other govt. staff member. I know that =
"user fees" are growing popular across the country, but the cost of a =
service like distributing information is incredibly low compared to other =
services like a visit from the police or fire department. We do have =
nominal charges for printed maps or the materials (disks) involved, but =
that is low and not a barrier to people who want the data.=20
Jonathan=20
=20
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