Hi, It looks like the original post is about the full address dataset (ie. all the delivery addresses within a postcode), not just the postcodes themselves. It does have a misleading subject line and call to action, in that case, as the postcodes are definitely already "opened up" - postcode data is already freely available under the OS Open Data licence, as you say.
ATB, Matthew On 4 Feb 2013, at 14:15, Matt Robinson wrote: > Just to play devil's advocate here, what's wrong with the free Ordnance > Survey API (other than its inscrutable JSON responses)? I can imagine that it > will be held up defensively by any ministers contacted by this campaign. > > http://data.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/doc/postcodeunit/SO164GU > > Is it that it's: > • too incomplete (it doesn't resolve to a street name, just lat/long, > country, district and ward), > • not authoritative (as in, Royal Mail is the original source of post > codes), > • not downloadable, > • or that the Open Government License it's released under is > insufficiently open? > • Something else? > I used it commercially and non-commercially to provide lat/long lookup for > postcodes. It's been pretty good. > > Secondly, "The Royal Mail can’t be allowed to exploit this information for > commercial gain" is pretty contentious (I'm not sure that's intentional). I > think it would be better to argue that Royal Mail shouldn't be able to > withhold this data. After all why shouldn't Royal Mail build profitable (or > at least self-sustaining) services on top of open data? We'll certainly be > trying to! > > -- > Matt Robinson > https://lazycat.org/ > > On 4 Feb 2013, at 13:22, Owen Blacker <[email protected]> wrote: > >> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> From: Javier Ruiz <[email protected]> >> Date: 4 February 2013 13:06 >> Subject: [Okfn-en] Help open up the postcode dataset >> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> >> >> […] >> Data about UK addresses is still locked down, unavailable to the general >> public and only accessible with an expensive and complex annual license from >> the Royal Mail. Innovators are being discouraged from putting this core >> reference data to creative use. British businesses and public services have >> to cope with the unnecessary burden of applying and paying for access to >> location data. >> >> The Open Data Users Group, a governmental advisory group, has just released >> a report calling for a public and open National Address Dataset to replace >> the restrictive database that we have now. >> […] >> Location data is a critical national asset. The Royal Mail can’t be allowed >> to exploit this information for commercial gain. Instead, the government >> should make this data freely available as part of our national public >> infrastructure. >> >> Ministers will try to hide behind the argument that these issues only >> concern a minority of technical experts. This just isn’t true. We need your >> help to show them that British citizens are well aware of the crucial >> importance of this data and are ready to be vocal about it. >> _______________________________________________ developers-public mailing list [email protected] https://secure.mysociety.org/admin/lists/mailman/listinfo/developers-public Unsubscribe: https://secure.mysociety.org/admin/lists/mailman/options/developers-public/archive%40mail-archive.com
