Hi all,
I've been in contact with Bruce Joffe who has been working on an amicus
curiae ("friend of the court") brief associated with two court decisions
that have gone in completely opposite directions in California, one
involving Santa Clara County and the other involving Orange County. The
legal point is the same in both cases, is GIS data (parcel data in
particular) data or is it software? If it is data, then it is covered
under the California Public Records Act, requiring that it be released
to the public for reproduction costs, if it is software, it isn't
covered, and is subject to licensing fees. The judge in the Santa Clara
County case (correctly) determined it was data, while the judge in the
Orange County case (incorrectly) determined it was software. The case is
now heading to the California Supreme Court, and Bruce Joffe is rounding
up potential individuals and organizations to sign on to the amicus
curiae brief. More details about the situation was posted on the
Directions Magazine daily newsletter on Wednesday. Here is the link to
the article:
http://www.directionsmag.com/articles/sierra-club-vs-orange-county-pra-lawsuit-update-december-10-2011/219926
My main purpose for posting this information to this list is to
determine if there is some mechanism by which the Open Geospatial
Foundation can be listed as one of the supporting parties in the amicus
curiae brief. I don't know if there is a mechanism for approving this,
but this seems like an issue that we should have a strong interest in.
Dan
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