Hi Matthew, There was no perfect way to describe the exact situation in one sentence. It may be oversimplified as we mailed it to thousands of people, but it is not misleading: the Postcode Address File (PAF, aka "the postcode dataset") is not open.
-- Javier Ruiz [email protected] +44(0)7877 911 412 @javierruiz www.OpenRightsGroup.org Winners of Liberty's Human Rights Campaigner of the Year Award 2012 On Monday, 4 February 2013 at 15:27, Matthew Somerville wrote: > 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] > > (mailto:[email protected])> wrote: > > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > > > From: Javier Ruiz <[email protected] > > > (mailto:[email protected])> > > > Date: 4 February 2013 13:06 > > > Subject: [Okfn-en] Help open up the postcode dataset > > > To: "[email protected] (mailto:[email protected])" > > > <[email protected] (mailto:[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] > (mailto:[email protected]) > https://secure.mysociety.org/admin/lists/mailman/listinfo/developers-public > > Unsubscribe: > https://secure.mysociety.org/admin/lists/mailman/options/developers-public/javier%40openrightsgroup.org >
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