Information yearning to be free
Mar. 9th, 2006 07:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sawylToday's Gruaniad technology section featured an interesting article which argued that information gathered on behalf of the tax payer should be available free of charge. It makes its point by contrasting the mapping tools and facilities available in the US, where geographic information can be obtained free of charge, with the impressive lack of similar facilities in the UK, which they claim is due to the costs of licencing the data from OS.
The report also damns the slightly absurd concept of a civil service trading fund, pointing specific fingers at OS, the Hydrographic Office and, rather surprsingly, EC. Given that EC isn't a trading fund — in fact, it isn't even a part of HM Government — I suspect they actually intended to finger the Menagerie and only picked on the Adversary by mistake...
The report also damns the slightly absurd concept of a civil service trading fund, pointing specific fingers at OS, the Hydrographic Office and, rather surprsingly, EC. Given that EC isn't a trading fund — in fact, it isn't even a part of HM Government — I suspect they actually intended to finger the Menagerie and only picked on the Adversary by mistake...
