I thought of doing this. Below they say: "CRP will continue to offer its data to commercial users for a negotiable fee."
(I wonder how much income they actually derive from this? I was speaking to someone at the Young Foundation recently about the value of a study on how much income non-profits derive from IP rights.) What do you think are the most compelling reasons for them to remove NC restrictions? Jonathan On Fri, Apr 24, 2009 at 2:09 PM, Rufus Pollock <[email protected]> wrote: > Should we write to them gently pointing out that this isn't really > "open data" and asking them to remove the NC restriction in favour of > e.g. Share-Alike. It seems rather disappointing to have a dataset like > this with NC restrictions on it ... > > Rufus > > 2009/4/24 Jonathan Gray <[email protected]>: >> Just in case people haven't already seen this... >> >> (Its a shame data has NC restrictions!) >> >> J. >> >> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> OpenSecrets.org Goes OpenData >> >> Award-winning website from the Center for Responsive Politics now >> provides 20 years of downloadable money-in-politics data -- for free >> >> >> >> MEDIA CONTACT: Massie Ritsch >> >> Communications Director >> >> Center for Responsive Politics >> >> Direct: (202) 354-0111 >> >> E-mail: [email protected] >> >> WASHINGTON (April 13, 2009) -- Politicians, prepare yourselves. >> Lobbyists, look out. Today the nonpartisan Center for Responsive >> Politics is putting 200 million data records from the watchdog group's >> archive directly into the hands of citizens, activists, journalists >> and anyone else interested in following the money in U.S. politics. >> >> For the first time in CRP's 26-year history, the nonprofit research >> group's most popular data archives are fully and freely downloadable >> for non-commercial purposes from the Center's website, OpenSecrets.org >> -- a four-time Webby winner for best politics site online. >> OpenSecrets.org will remain the go-to independent source for most >> users interested in tracking money's political influence and, in fact, >> the site has some new general-interest features as of today. (More on >> those below.) >> >> With today's announcement, skilled data-divers can explore the >> information that's already aggregated on OpenSecrets.org to its full >> depth. Web developers and database experts can grab federal >> money-in-politics data that CRP's researchers have standardized and >> coded, and mash it up with other data sets. Timelines, charts, maps, >> other graphics and mobile applications are just some of the projects >> that could result -- all powered by CRP's unparalleled data. >> >> "Putting our data into more hands will put more eyes on Washington >> and, we hope, engage more Americans in their government," CRP >> Executive Director Sheila Krumholz said. "We hope that more people >> counting cash will lead to more people making change." >> >> The OpenSecrets OpenData initiative is being generously underwritten >> by a three-year $1.2 million grant from Sunlight Foundation, which >> supports uses of the Internet to promote greater transparency of >> government and the interplay in Washington between money and public >> policy. >> >> "Building on its outstanding and long-earned reputation for accuracy >> and integrity, CRP is giving the public the keys to take government >> transparency to the next level," said Ellen Miller, Sunlight >> Foundation's executive director and co-founder. "This will have a >> long-term impact, undoubtedly inspiring many effective and creative >> uses of the data by civic hackers, journalists and bloggers." >> >> Center's Researchers Clean Up, Categorize Government Data >> >> The following data sets, along with a user guide, resource tables and >> other documentation, are now available in CSV format (comma-separated >> values, for easy importing) through OpenSecrets.org's Action Center at >> http://www.opensecrets.org/action/data.php: >> >> CAMPAIGN FINANCE: 195 million records dating to the 1989-1990 election >> cycle, tracking campaign fundraising and spending by candidates for >> federal office, as well as political parties and political action >> committees. CRP's researchers add value to Federal Election Commission >> data by cleaning up and categorizing contribution records. This allows >> for easier totaling by industry and company or organization, to >> measure special-interest influence. >> LOBBYING: 3.5 million records on federal lobbyists, their clients, >> their fees and the issues they reported working on, dating to 1998. >> Industry codes have been applied to this data, as well. >> PERSONAL FINANCES: Reports from members of Congress and the executive >> branch that detail their personal assets, liabilities and transactions >> in 2004 through 2007. The reports covering 2008 will become available >> to the public in June, and the data will be available for download >> once CRP has keyed those reports. >> 527 ORGANIZATIONS: Electronically filed financial records beginning in >> the 2004 election cycle for the shadowy issue-advocacy groups known as >> 527s, which can raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, labor >> unions and individuals. >> >> To download bulk data from OpenSecrets.org, users must register on the >> site and agree to prominently credit the Center for Responsive >> Politics, along with other terms of service. CRP is making its data >> available through a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share >> Alike license, which allows users to remix, tweak, build upon and >> share the Center's work non-commercially. CRP will continue to offer >> its data to commercial users for a negotiable fee. >> >> OpenSecrets.org also offers a number of APIs (Application Programming >> Interfaces) to give users direct access via web programming to data >> displayed on OpenSecrets.org. Web developers are already using these >> APIs to display OpenSecrets data on their web pages and create mashups >> using live, up-to-date data. >> >> Users can also share CRP data using OpenSecrets.org's widgets, which >> can be placed easily on any website or blog. New widgets for the 2010 >> election cycle are in development. >> >> Another New Feature: Enhanced Politician Profiles >> >> In addition to making its data archives available, today the Center >> has enhanced its online campaign finance profiles for members of >> Congress. Visitors to OpenSecrets.org now have three options for >> viewing the top industries and contributors supporting a particular >> lawmaker: 1) money raised by the politician's campaign committee, 2) >> money raised by the politician's leadership PAC or 3) money raised by >> the campaign and PAC combined. More than 300 members of Congress are >> also linked to a political action committee, ostensibly to raise money >> to support other members of their party. >> >> "Campaign committees and leadership PACs are two of the deepest >> pockets in a politician's coat," Krumholz said, "so it's important to >> watch them together to see who's potentially building the most >> influence with a lawmaker." >> >> OpenSecrets.org's enhanced profiles for members of Congress also now >> allow users to download deeper tables of data-aggregated data and >> "top" rankings, but not individual records, in a variety of formats >> with one easy click. This feature will be integrated into other >> sections of OpenSecrets.org in the future. >> >> Krumholz said, "All these enhancements to OpenSecrets.org are about >> one thing: showing more people how money's influence on politics >> affects their lives--and empowering them to do something about it." >> >> # # # >> >> >> >> OpenSecrets.org's bulk data is now available for download through the >> site's Action Center at >> http://www.opensecrets.org/action/data.php. >> >> ABOUT THE CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS >> The Center for Responsive Politics is the nation's premier research >> group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and >> public policy. For more than 25 years the nonpartisan, nonprofit >> Center has aimed to create a more educated voter, an involved >> citizenry and a more responsive government. CRP's award-winning >> website, OpenSecrets.org, is the most comprehensive resource for >> campaign contributions, lobbying data and analysis available anywhere. >> For other organizations and news media, CRP's exclusive data powers >> their online features tracking money in politics. CRP relies on >> support from a combination of foundation grants and individual >> contributions. The Center accepts no contributions from businesses, >> labor unions or trade associations. >> >> >> >> >> -- >> Jonathan Gray >> >> Community Coordinator >> The Open Knowledge Foundation >> http://www.okfn.org >> >> _______________________________________________ >> okfn-discuss mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.okfn.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/okfn-discuss >> > -- Jonathan Gray Community Coordinator The Open Knowledge Foundation http://www.okfn.org _______________________________________________ okfn-discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.okfn.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/okfn-discuss
